News-Record.com

Saturday's lead editorial.

The practice of accepting free drug samples by doctors and passing them on to their patients generates a fair amount of controversy. But for the fixed-income elderly and the rising ranks of uninsured Americans, those samples can be a godsend.
Without them, some people might go untreated.

Critics, however, counter that handing out free pills is nothing less than influence-peddling by well-heeled pharmaceutical companies. They contend doctors courted by the drug industry are more likely to prescribe expensive, brand-name medications than less-heavily marketed generics. That, they say, only drives up already spiraling medical costs.

But if physicians choose to accept samples, it makes no sense for the state to require counties to tax them. Yet a 2006 directive from the N.C. Department of Revenue does exactly that.

The foggy reasoning is that because hand-out medicines aren’t for sale they can’t be classified as tax-exempt inventory. Instead, samples are classified as office supplies, which are taxed.
Not surprisingly, the tax collector is catching the flak. The Guilford County Tax Department has sent the bills and expects to be paid.

Accountants for one large local medical practice are disputing their bill, claiming they weren’t properly informed of the move. But random tax audits by the county likely will snare other unsuspecting medical practices.

Tax departments can’t ignore state law. It’s on the books and has to be enforced. A better course of action is for the Department of Revenue to reconsider this ill-advised ruling. If that doesn’t happen, the General Assembly may have to get involved.

If the issue can’t be resolved, the likely scenario is that the diminishing supplies on hand won’t be replenished. By year’s end, the long-standing practice may well cease.
While the ethical question of doctors receiving favors from drug makers can and should be debated, there’s little doubt that providing drug samples is a worthwhile alternative to expensive prescriptions.

Even for people with adequate drug-coverage plans, there can be benefits. Trying a few samples provided by the family doctor could be a good indicator of whether the patient can tolerate a particular medication. At the same time, manufacturers can get firsthand feedback from physicians on adverse side effects.

In a down economy, it’s admirable to boost tax collections, but not at the price of risking elimination of a harmless practice that leads to better health and helps people in financial need.
When it comes to collecting tax dollars, there are bigger fish to fry.