Sabah docs back protest
Published on: Thursday, May 08, 2025
Published on: Thu, May 08, 2025
By: David Thien Text Size: GP doctors protesting in Putrajaya on Tuesday. Kota Kinabalu: Some private medical practitioners here threw in their support for fellow GPs who took time off to stage a protest for the first time, Tuesday, against gazetting the drug price display order under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 (Act 723). Association of Private Practitioners Sabah (APPS) President Dr Devadas Ramankutty was among those who signed the petition. The ruling that came into effect May 1, put them in the same class of product retailers and expose them to checks by Domestic Trade and Cost enforcement officers. 'While the medical associations fully support the principle of transparency in medicine pricing, we strongly object to how the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering (Price Marking for Drug) Order 2025 is being enforced on private clinics under Act 723 without consultation and engagement with the affected medical fraternity, especially GPs,' 11 medical groups said in a joint memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister's Office. Some of the placards compared the price of fish (RM16/kg) and chicken (RM10.30) to the 'priceless' value of getting cured of illness, as well as the 80 per cent rise in the price of a packet of nasi lemak since 2011 compared to GPs' consultation fees that have stagnated for 33 years at a maximum RM35. Subscribe or LOG IN to access this article.
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