Can a vendor provide free samples of drugs or devices to UCLA faculty and providers for patient use?
Under certain circumstances, yes. On the Westwood and Santa Monica campuses, the UCLA Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee has established guidelines outlined in UCLA Health System Policy 1307 defining when and under what circumstances samples will be allowed in the outpatient areas of the health system. Only drugs approved by the P&T Committee and appearing on the health system formulary may be sampled and the samples must be stored in a secure and locked cabinet with limited access to the locked cabinet by pharmacy staff, clinic physicians and other designated individuals designated by the Clinic Chief. The vendors cannot provide drug samples without a physician providing a specific request to the manufacturer as set forth in the policy and all samples dispensed in the clinic must be properly recorded in a log/record to facilitate patient notification in the event of a drug recall. Devices must also be reviewed by the Value Analysis Committee and all devices given to the clinic
