KUALA LUMPUR, August 7 — The medical fraternity reacted with swift outrage over Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Deputy Minister Fuziah Salleh’s announcement that doctors’ prescriptions have been made mandatory.
Dr Vani Chandran, a GP who practises in Kuala Lumpur, said most private GP clinics survive because they are allowed to both consult and dispense medicines, since GPs’ consultation fees have remained stagnant at a rate of RM10 to RM35 for 33 years.
“If this [dispensing] right is taken away without increasing consultation fees, many GP clinics will be forced to shut down,” Dr Vani wrote on Facebook yesterday.
“This means longer waits and overcrowding at government clinics and hospitals; fewer options for families, especially in small towns and rural areas; more difficulty getting quick treatment for common illnesses; and more time and money spent by the rakyat just to get basic care.
“In short, private GP care will collapse and the rakyat will suffer.”
Dr Vani also described Fuziah’s statement in Parliament yesterday about the purportedly new mandatory prescriptions rule as “irresponsible, misleading, and was not agreed by stakeholders.”
Fuziah told the Dewan Rakyat during Question Time that the National Action Council on Cost of Living (Naccol) has mandated doctors’ prescriptions and itemised billing in private medical clinics, besides mandatory drug price display that came into effect under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 (Act 723) on May 1.
The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) has exclusive legal and practical jurisdiction over the medicine price transparency policy, since pharmacy enforcement officers from the Ministry of Health (MOH) will be deputised by KPDN to act as its assistant price controllers.
Fuziah explained that making prescriptions mandatory for “every consultation” would enable patients to buy their prescribed medicines at pharmacies instead of the clinic where they received a consultation, which is dispensing separation in essence.
Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad previously said in a written parliamentary reply that Cabinet has instructed the MOH to “refine” a proposal to review GPs’ consultation fees by continuing stakeholder engagements, after the MOH tabled a paper on the review to Cabinet.
‘One Of The Weakest Phases Of Leadership Within MOH’
Dr Sivanaesan Letchumanan, a private medical practitioner based in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, said the MOH is now in one of its “weakest phases of leadership.”
“The absence of strong, assertive representation has emboldened other ministries to interfere with and dictate matters concerning the medical profession,” he wrote on Facebook.
“First, we saw non-health officers inspecting health facilities. Now, other ministries are issuing directives on what doctors must or must not do – undermining our professional autonomy.
“This erosion of dignity and respect for doctors has reached an all-time low. Our profession – built on years of sacrifice, training, and commitment – deserves far better. We need leadership that will stand firm, protect our profession, and restore the honour that every doctor deserves.”
Manipal Alumni Association of Malaysia president Dr Koh Kar Chai described mandatory prescriptions as “dispensing separation” in effect, while GPs are stuck with an outdated “measly” consultation fee that he said can barely cover the cost of running a clinic.
“Better to set up a roadside food stall,” Dr Koh posted on X sarcastically.
In response to Fuziah’s announcement, Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president-elect Dr R. Arasu told Dzulkefly to “put his foot down.”
“Naccol has no business in health care. GP consultation fees already a mess. What’s next, run CKAPS (Private Medical Practice Control Section)?” Dr Arasu posted on X.
“Itemised billing? Already in Act 586 [Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998]. Mandatory prescriptions? Not needed – existing laws already protect patients.”
Organisation of Malaysian Muslim Doctors (Perdim) president Dr Boi Saidi Abd Razak described Fuziah’s statement as “extremely confusing.”
“It would be better if KPDN reviewed its scope of jurisdiction to avoid making confusing statements to people, especially health care stakeholders in Malaysia,” he posted on Facebook.
In an immediate reaction, Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations, Malaysia (FPMPAM) president Dr Shanmuganathan Ganeson simply told CodeBlue that he was “still reeling from the shock.”
CodeBlue has requested comments from both KPDN and MOH to specify the source of authority (“punca kuasa”) for mandatory prescriptions and itemised billing.
PH Government Unsuccessfully Raised Mandatory Prescriptions In 2019
The MOH said in a statement last May that there was no change in the policy on itemised billing, saying this was only mandatory under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services (Private Hospitals and Other Private Healthcare Facilities) Regulations 2006 if a patient requested it.
Mandatory prescriptions, be it upon request or in general across board, were not included in the 2022 or 2025 amendments to the Poisons Act 1952. Prescriptions are only mandatory upon request under the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) Guidelines on Good Dispensing Practice.
The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, when Dzulkefly was also health minister, first proposed amendments to the Poisons Act in 2019 to make prescriptions mandatory upon request, providing punishments of a maximum RM50,000 fine, up to five years’ imprisonment, or both for non-compliance.
But the amendment bill sparked vociferous uproar among associations representing doctors, dentists, and vets, forcing the PH administration to postpone second reading.
The subsequent Perikatan Nasional (PN) government dropped the bill in 2020. Mandatory prescriptions were not brought up again by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government in the 2022 amendment bill, nor in the recently passed 2025 amendment bill – until Fuziah’s statement yesterday about Naccol’s decisions.
