15-05-2025
- Health
- Free Malaysia Today
Stop giving instructions through social media, private GPs tell health ministry
The private doctors' group said that unbundling services to comply with forced itemised billing could drive up costs for patients. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA : A private doctors' group has called on the health ministry to stop issuing instructions to medical practitioners through social media.
This follows a TikTok Live session in which Redzuan Rizal, a senior officer with the ministry's pharmaceutical services programme, instructed private general practitioners (GPs) and specialist clinics to implement itemised billing.
The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners' Associations Malaysia (FPMPAM) described the announcement as 'a gross overreach' made without any formal directive, circular, or legal amendment.
'It disregards the established regulatory framework that governs private medical practice in Malaysia,' its president, Dr Shanmuganathan TV Ganeson, said in a statement today.
'Doctors are not retailers. We are licensed under the Medical Act 1971 and regulated by the Malaysian Medical Council, while private medical clinics fall under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Act 586), not the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 (Act 723).'
Shanmuganathan said billing matters fall under clinical governance, not pharmaceutical jurisdiction, and pointed out that itemised bills are already available upon request under existing guidelines.
He warned that enforcing itemised billing without a clear legal mandate could force clinics to break down charges for every tool, consumable and procedure — driving up costs for patients.
In the TikTok session on the @MyHealthKKM channel, Redzuan reportedly said patients have the right to detailed information about the charges imposed on them.
He encouraged clinics to issue detailed bills in line with the mandatory display of drug prices that took effect on May 1.
The rule has received pushback from various doctors' groups that have submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister's Office.
In their memorandum, the GPs demanded that the government remove private clinics from the purview of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act and review the consultation fees of GPs.
The health ministry had said the use of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act for drug price displays aimed to promote transparency and affordability, not disrupt the work of private GPs.
