By Amy McCullough
Enquirer Columbus Bureau

COLUMBUS - Ohio is one step closer to offering free prescription medication to those who need it most.

A bill that passed the House Tuesday 94-0 would allow Ohio pharmacists to distribute sample prescription drugs to people who either do not have insurance or who can not afford to pay for their own medications.

The measure will now move to the Senate, although Senate officials say it is unlikely the bill will pass before the session lets out this week.

A similar program run by St. Vincent de Paul Community Pharmacy in Crescent Springs has given out more than $2 million in free prescriptions and filled more than 30,000 prescriptions since March 2002. The group is looking to do the same thing around Ohio.

About 161,800 uninsured adults live in the Tristate, according to the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati and the University of Cincinnati.

Some of these people are forced to choose between paying their rent and taking their medication, said Liz Carter, the executive director of St. Vincent de Paul in Cincinnati. The biggest barrier St. Vincent's is facing is current law that prohibits the distribution of sample drugs in any way.

Bill sponsor Rep. John White, R-Kettering, hopes his measure will change that.