Final answer:
The Prescription Drug Marketing Act of 1987 banned the sale, trade, and purchase of prescription drug samples. The FDA's strict medical regulations aim to protect public health, and while they benefit consumers by ensuring drug safety and efficacy, they can negatively impact small pharmaceutical companies, patients awaiting new treatments, and contribute to higher drug prices.
Step-by-step explanation:
The federal statute that banned the sale, trade, and purchase of prescription drug samples is the Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA) of 1987. This act was designed to prevent the diversion of prescription drugs into illicit channels, ensure that prescription drug products are safe and effective, and avoid counterfeit drugs entering the supply chain. It established legal requirements for the distribution of prescription drugs and drug samples, including the prohibition of trading, selling, or purchasing prescription drug samples.
While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plays a crucial role in safeguarding public health by ensuring that only safe and efficacious drugs are sold in pharmacies, there are some entities that could be considered 'losers' in the face of these strict regulations. These may include smaller pharmaceutical companies which struggle with the financial burden of extensive testing and approval processes, patients with conditions for which there are no existing treatments and who might benefit from experimental drugs that are delayed by the lengthy FDA approval process, and patients who suffer from higher drug prices that can be partially attributed to the costs incurred by pharmaceutical companies in complying with these regulations.