Ask for Samples

These are hard times financially and patients sometimes have to make hard decisions about whether they will get prescriptions filled this week or buy gas to get to from work. Getting prescriptions filled should be your choice because if you get sick, you cannot work. The research shows that patients who take their medications as prescribed improve their life spans significantly better than those patients who don’t. In my practice, we give patients samples of the medications we are prescribing if we have them.

Follow what your physician asks you to do. Take your medications as prescribed and keep your appointments for follow-up visits. Ask your physician for samples of your medications. I think he or she will be glad to help you stay adherent and providing you with that seven day supply of medicine may be just what you need to get you over for the week.

I am Dr. Thaddeus John Bell --- Closing the Gap in Health Disparities for African Americans and The Underserved.

Copyright June 2008
Bell Update Volume 3, Chapter 22