Not-So-Free Medication Samples
Everybody loves a freebie. Especially those “samples” you get at the doctor’s office, with the latest, greatest brand-name cures for your headache or your heartburn or whatever it is that ails ya. But a study published in the September issue of the Southern Medical Journal finds that those freebies may cost you in the long run. Because doctors who use those samples wind up prescribing the more costly brand-name medications more often than the cheaper generic.
The researchers tracked the prescribing habits of one particular group of 70 physicians. What made this practice ideal is that at some point it moved from one space to another. In the new place, there was no room to store all those samples. So no more free-flowing freebies. What the researchers found is that when the physicians were no longer under the influence of the free samples, the number of prescriptions they gave their uninsured patients for generic drugs rose from 12 percent to 30 percent. That means that when the office was filled with brand-name samples, the docs tended to write more brand-name prescripts which their patients had to pay for. So, in the end, there’s no such thing as a free drug. Which, deep in your heartburn, I think you already knew.
免費(fèi)藥物樣品并不免費(fèi)
人人都喜歡免費(fèi)的東西。尤其是那些你在醫(yī)生的辦公室里面獲得的免費(fèi)藥物“樣品”，這些最新的樣品有炫目的品牌，聲稱能治療你所遭受的頭痛、心臟痛等等疾病。但是發(fā)表在9月份《南方醫(yī)學(xué)雜志》的（Southern Medical Journal）一項(xiàng)研究表明，從長遠(yuǎn)看這些免費(fèi)品將會(huì)使你付出更多的錢。因?yàn)槭褂眠@些樣品的醫(yī)生后來給病人開處方的時(shí)候，更多的開那些昂貴的藥品而不是那些更便宜的普通藥。
研究人員們跟蹤了一個(gè)由70名內(nèi)科醫(yī)生組成的小組的開處方習(xí)慣。使得這項(xiàng)跟蹤調(diào)查具有理想效果的是：這些調(diào)查有時(shí)候在不同的地方進(jìn)行。在新的地方，就沒有空間來儲(chǔ)存所有的那些免費(fèi)藥物樣品。研究人員們發(fā)現(xiàn)：當(dāng)內(nèi)科醫(yī)生們不再受到免費(fèi)藥物樣品的影響時(shí)候，他們給那些沒有參加保險(xiǎn)的病人所看的普通藥從12 %升到了30 %。這就意味著當(dāng)醫(yī)生的辦公室里面充滿藥物樣品時(shí)，醫(yī)生們傾向于向患者開出更多的藥物，而這些都是需要患者買單的。所以，最終來看，天下沒有免費(fèi)藥。不過，我相信你早已經(jīng)知道這個(gè)令你痛心的秘密了。
Vocabulary:
Medication: 藥物治療；
Freebie: 免費(fèi)品
Ail: （病痛）折磨
Ya: （口語）你
Wind up: 結(jié)束
Prescribe: 開藥方
Generic: 普通的
Physician: （內(nèi)科）醫(yī)生
Uninsured: 沒有保險(xiǎn)的
Everybody loves a freebie. Especially those “samples” you get at the doctor’s office, with the latest, greatest brand-name cures for your headache or your heartburn or whatever it is that ails ya. But a study published in the September issue of the Southern Medical Journal finds that those freebies may cost you in the long run. Because doctors who use those samples wind up prescribing the more costly brand-name medications more often than the cheaper generic.
The researchers tracked the prescribing habits of one particular group of 70 physicians. What made this practice ideal is that at some point it moved from one space to another. In the new place, there was no room to store all those samples. So no more free-flowing freebies. What the researchers found is that when the physicians were no longer under the influence of the free samples, the number of prescriptions they gave their uninsured patients for generic drugs rose from 12 percent to 30 percent. That means that when the office was filled with brand-name samples, the docs tended to write more brand-name prescripts which their patients had to pay for. So, in the end, there’s no such thing as a free drug. Which, deep in your heartburn, I think you already knew.
免費(fèi)藥物樣品并不免費(fèi)
人人都喜歡免費(fèi)的東西。尤其是那些你在醫(yī)生的辦公室里面獲得的免費(fèi)藥物“樣品”，這些最新的樣品有炫目的品牌，聲稱能治療你所遭受的頭痛、心臟痛等等疾病。但是發(fā)表在9月份《南方醫(yī)學(xué)雜志》的（Southern Medical Journal）一項(xiàng)研究表明，從長遠(yuǎn)看這些免費(fèi)品將會(huì)使你付出更多的錢。因?yàn)槭褂眠@些樣品的醫(yī)生后來給病人開處方的時(shí)候，更多的開那些昂貴的藥品而不是那些更便宜的普通藥。
研究人員們跟蹤了一個(gè)由70名內(nèi)科醫(yī)生組成的小組的開處方習(xí)慣。使得這項(xiàng)跟蹤調(diào)查具有理想效果的是：這些調(diào)查有時(shí)候在不同的地方進(jìn)行。在新的地方，就沒有空間來儲(chǔ)存所有的那些免費(fèi)藥物樣品。研究人員們發(fā)現(xiàn)：當(dāng)內(nèi)科醫(yī)生們不再受到免費(fèi)藥物樣品的影響時(shí)候，他們給那些沒有參加保險(xiǎn)的病人所看的普通藥從12 %升到了30 %。這就意味著當(dāng)醫(yī)生的辦公室里面充滿藥物樣品時(shí)，醫(yī)生們傾向于向患者開出更多的藥物，而這些都是需要患者買單的。所以，最終來看，天下沒有免費(fèi)藥。不過，我相信你早已經(jīng)知道這個(gè)令你痛心的秘密了。
Vocabulary:
Medication: 藥物治療；
Freebie: 免費(fèi)品
Ail: （病痛）折磨
Ya: （口語）你
Wind up: 結(jié)束
Prescribe: 開藥方
Generic: 普通的
Physician: （內(nèi)科）醫(yī)生
Uninsured: 沒有保險(xiǎn)的