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I am writing to commend the ARCHIVES for publishing the important piece on patient assistance programs in the recent article titled "Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Assistance Programs."¹ This article provided an overview of the programs available to help indigent patients. However, it painted an image of easy-to-use programs and had some inaccurate information that could lead to fundamental misunderstandings about these programs. Since January 2001, our medical group has provided a pharmacist-run advocate service to patients unable to afford their medications. Our experience is that these programs are not universally easy to use. However, if advocates are aware of some common pitfalls, the programs can be used more successfully.

Contrary to what was stated in the article by Chisholm and DiPiro, most programs will not send medication directly to patients. Most commonly, medications are sent only to the physician's office. This can create a fundamental distribution problem, since most physician offices are . . . [Full Text of this Article]