22-04-2025
MMA: We support medicine price transparency, but not the wrong law
KUALA LUMPUR: Doctors support medicine price transparency but insist the correct law must govern its implementation, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) said today.
MMA president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz said the association strongly objects to the use of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 (Act 723) on the medical profession for the mandatory display of drug prices, adding that the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Act 586) is the appropriate legislation.
"We support price transparency, but it must be regulated under the right framework. Act 586 already governs private medical practice, and if new regulations are needed, the health minister can introduce them under Section 107 of that Act," she said in a statement.
She said using Act 723 – a law not designed for healthcare – risks misclassifying medical services as commercial transactions.
"Patients are not customers. They don't shop for medicines; they seek treatment based on medical need. Doctors are legally responsible for the care they provide, including prescriptions," Dr Azizan said.
She said the portrayal of doctors as being secretive or resistant to transparency is a misleading narrative and damaging to public trust.
"It shows a clear lack of understanding – or an unwillingness to understand – the role of doctors, particularly general practitioners, in Malaysia's healthcare system," she said.
Dr Azizan said the MMA had yet to receive a response from the Health Ministry or the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry regarding its request for a meeting, despite the Health Minister's earlier commitment to engage with medical bodies following a joint statement from eight associations on 7 April.
She added that engagement with stakeholders must be held urgently, warning that the decisions being made now could have lasting consequences on the future of general practice in Malaysia.
