No fines during drug price display grace period, says health ministry
Health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad previously said he would meet eight doctors' groups who are against the mandatory display of medicine prices under a non-medical-specific law. (Freepik pic)
The health ministry previously announced that medicine price displays at clinics would be mandatory from May 1.
PETALING JAYA : The health ministry will not impose fines or take action against hospitals and pharmacies that have yet to display medicine prices during the first three months of the new rule.
Dr Azuana Ramli, the ministry's deputy director-general for pharmacy, said the first three months would focus on educating the public and monitoring the policy's implementation.
'It's time for the health ministry to advocate the policy and assess how it is being carried out by stakeholders,' Sinar Harian quoted her as saying after a media briefing on the mechanism in Putrajaya today.
Yesterday, a private doctors' group claimed that domestic trade and cost of living ministry enforcement officers had visited clinics and threatened to issue them summonses for failing to display medicine prices.
The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners' Associations Malaysia (FPMPAM) said the spot checks occurred despite the three-month grace period given by the ministries of health and domestic trade and cost of living yesterday.
FPMPAM president Dr Shanmuganathan TV Ganeson said the joint statement previously issued by the ministries specified a grace period, but that the officers had ignored this by conducting the checks.
Under the policy which came into effect yesterday, private healthcare providers and community pharmacies are required to clearly display the prices for prescription and over-the-counter medicines, traditional products, and supplements.
The Malaysian Medical Association and other medical groups opposed the policy from the start, saying it should fall under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 and be delayed until a review of general practitioners' consultation fees.
Consultation fees have remained unchanged for the last 30 years.
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