August proved to be an exciting month at the Dispensary of Hope. Not only were we busy preparing to launch a new Subscription Model for our Dispensing Sites while continuing to help more and more patients directly through our Continued Access Program, but we also received a record $449,429 of sample medications donated by the [...]
Over the past year, it has been amazing to see the changes in pharmaceutical sales. Physicians and health care providers who once had multiple pharmaceutical sales reps in their offices daily, now only have one or two visiting their office each week, while other communities have seen no change in the number of pharma rep [...]
This weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that over $3 billion worth of sample medications were distributed by 6 big pharma manufacturers in 2007. The manufacturers reported this information to Congress as part of the new health reform laws. Here’s the breakdown:
Pfizer – 101 million samples worth $2.7 billion
Merck – 39 million samples worth $356 [...]
Volunteers have been vital to the Dispensary of Hope over the years, especially when it comes to engaging local health care providers to help by donating sample medicines. As the Dispensary of Hope begins to revamp our volunteer program, I have been searching the internet left and right for the best ways to successfully create [...]
Each year, billions of dollars worth of excess medication is destroyed before it has the chance to reach the hands of a patient. That is why the Dispensary of Hope works with manufacturers and health care providers across the country to accept donations of excess medication that would otherwise go unused. The DOH 2010 Network [...]
Each year, tens of thousands of eager students apply to medical school but only a small number actually get in. Could the provider shortage be solved if there were more medical schools and more students were accepted? Possibly.
An article in the New York Times earlier this month details the recent phenomenon of new medical schools. [...]
As the world scrambles to help Haiti in it’s time of need, it is important to remember that what we think is helpful aid may not be. This is especially true when it comes to international donations of medications. Thankfully, Saundra Schimmelpfennig, an expert on disaster relief and aid, has dedicated an entire post to [...]
A couple of weeks ago, each employee at the Dispensary of Hope was asked to do the following:
“Bring an object from your work space that is very important and represents your work at the Dispensary of Hope. This could be a simple object that you use everyday, such as a stapler or particular form, or [...]
Are continuing medical education (CME) programs at hotels and resorts in exciting locations a thing of the past? If it is up to Stanford University, they may just be.
Just yesterday, The New York Times reported that Stanford University has announced “plans to develop new continuing education programs for doctors that will be devoid of drug [...]
The Congressional Budget Office took a bit of a stab at pharmaceutical manufacturers last week as it released an overview of promotional spending for prescription drugs. The brief suggests that pharmaceutical advertising, especially direct-to-consumer ads, “may be having an impact on the functioning, cost, and effectiveness of the nation’s health care system.” Here is a [...]
