KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — Doctor groups have renewed their opposition to a medicine price display mandate for private general practitioner (GP) clinics that is scheduled to be implemented this year.
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) told the government to postpone the mandatory implementation of drug price displays until consultation fees for private GPs, which have stagnated for more than three decades, are reviewed and gazetted.
“We also call on the government to implement measures to ensure sale of prescription drugs at pharmacies and online are strictly regulated before it proceeds with its move,” MMA president Dr Kalwinder Singh Khaira said in a statement Saturday.
“While MMA supports transparency in health care pricing, enforcing this policy without addressing the long-standing issue of GP consultation fees—unchanged for over 30 years—will threaten the sustainability of private primary care services, endanger GP clinics, and push more patients toward already overcrowded public health care facilities.
“Furthermore, it needs to be noted that patients already have access to information like price of services and drugs available to them at private clinics upon request.”
Dr Kalwinder cited a 2017 MMA study that found that 30 per cent of clinics operate at a loss, 30 per cent barely break even, 30 per cent survive but do not grow, and only 10 per cent are in good financial health. Six in 10 GP clinics, he said, are under financial pressure.
“The private GP consultation fees have not been reviewed for over 30 years, despite rising operational costs—rent, salaries, and regulatory compliance. Many clinics rely on cross-subsidisation from medicine dispensing revenue to keep services affordable.
“Implementing the price display policy without revising consultation fees will force clinics to either increase charges or reduce service quality.”
MMA claimed that medicine price displays in GP clinics will likely push consumers to buy prescription drugs from pharmacies or via online shopping, amid a purported lack of control over the sale of prescription medications without a doctor’s prescription at pharmacies and online.
Separately, the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations, Malaysia (FPMPAM) slammed the Malaysian Pharmacists Society (MPS) for pushing for medicine price displays in GP clinics “under the guise of transparency.”
“However, this narrative conveniently ignores the fundamental issue: the lack of a viable financial structure for GPs to sustain their practices,” FPMPAM president Dr Shanmuganathan TV Ganeson said in a statement Saturday.
“If MPS were truly advocating for fairness, they would be addressing the broader financial issues in private primary care, including stagnant GP consultation fees that have remained unchanged for over 30 years.
“Instead, their selective push for price transparency on medications—but not on their own industry’s markups—reveals the real agenda: shifting dispensing away from GPs for commercial gain.”
FPMPAM pointed out that a joint workshop in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, between medical practitioners and the pharmaceutical sector had established that dispensing separation was not feasible without a firm financial structure.
“Additionally, it was agreed at the same workshop that GPs must issue prescriptions upon patient request, allowing them the freedom to purchase medicines elsewhere. This practice has been in place for a long time and reinforces patient choice,” said Dr Shanmuganathan.
“However, the demand for automatic price display ignores the fact that in GP clinics, the person in charge of the clinic and the dispensary within the clinic are the same individual. Unlike retail pharmacies, where there is a separate business structure, GP clinics provide integrated care, making mandatory price display both redundant and misleading.”
Dr James Jeremiah, the immediate past president and founding president of the Association of Private Practitioners Sabah (APPS), accused pharmacies in Malaysia of pushing for medicine price controls.
“Unlike GP clinics, which rely heavily on prescription medication sales as a significant revenue stream, pharmacies enjoy the advantage of diversified income sources, including over-the-counter products, supplements, and personal care items,” Dr James told CodeBlue in a statement.
“Meanwhile, GP consultation fees have stagnated at a pitiful RM10 to RM35 for over two decades, without any review or consideration from the bureaucrats at the Ministry of Health (MOH).
“This stark disparity in revenue models puts GP clinics at a severe disadvantage, making them highly vulnerable to any imposed price controls on medicines.”
Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad is scheduled to hold an “advocacy session” this Thursday in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, on the drug price display mandate for private health care facilities and community pharmacies.
