KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 — The High Court here granted today a stay of enforcement of a medicine price display order until the disposal of a judicial review application.
High Court judge Justice Alice Loke decided to preserve the status quo for private health care facilities throughout the course of the lawsuit.
“I have taken into consideration the rights of the parties, and the consequences to parties if a stay is not granted,” said Loke during a virtual hearing today.
“If a stay is not granted, the applicants’ rights would be affected. Put another way, irreparable harm would be caused given that the Impugned Order attracts penal consequences. This is the most compelling reason, apart from the other reasons that were advanced, where I am also persuaded to agree with the applicants.”
Justice Loke directed an early hearing for the substantive judicial review.
K. Shanmuga, one of the applicants’ lawyers, told CodeBlue that case management has been fixed for June 10.
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), who is one of the applicants of the judicial review, welcomed the court decision.
“We wish to be clear: MMA has never been against medicine price transparency. We support it. Patients have every right to know what they are paying for,” said MMA president Dr R. Arasu in a statement.
“What we have consistently opposed is the use of Act 723 — a trade and consumer protection statute — to regulate the practice of medicine.
“The law for this already exists. Act 586 and its 2006 Regulations have governed patient rights, obligations on charges, and grievance mechanisms in private health care for nearly 20 years.
“The legal framework for transparency in private health care was put in place long before this controversy. The government did not need Act 723 to achieve price transparency. The correct instrument was already there.”
The Price Control and Anti-Profiteering (Price Marking for Drug) Order 2025, which was gazetted by Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Armizan Mohd Ali, came into effect on May 1, 2025.
The order, gazetted under Section 10 of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 (Act 723), requires private health care facilities and community pharmacies to display retail medicine prices.
The High Court’s decision means that the government has been unable to enforce the drug price display rule for more than a year now; Putrajaya initially planned to begin enforcement on January 1, 2026 after a grace period last year.
Two lawsuits were filed against the government over the medicine price display order – one by seven medical and dental groups and another by the Private Medical Practitioners Association of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur (PMPASKL) and Medipulse Healthcare Sdn Bhd.
Although the drug price display order came from the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN), its underlying price transparency policy originated from the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Today’s ruling marked a second loss in court for the government, specifically the MOH, in just a week after the High Court ruled last May 15 in favour of anti-tobacco groups in a judicial review of the health minister’s 2023 order removing liquid nicotine from the Poisons List.
