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The Federation of Consumers Associations of Malaysia (Fomca) is extremely disappointed that the Poisons (Amendment) Bill of 2019 that would improve patient protection has been withdrawn. It seems that the government is not concerned with increasing the protection or welfare of patients.
Previous governments had protected patients to some extent by regulating how much doctors could charge patients, since health care is a right, not a commodity.
However, the former health minister decided to eliminate the price caps and now there is no price control. Doctors can charge whatever they want, patients lose protection and their rights are trampled on.
While doctors can charge whatever they want, they must be transparent in clearly stating the breakdown of charges for consultations and for each prescription drug. Patients will then know exactly how much and why they are paying.
With transparency in drug costs, the patient can choose whether to buy at the clinic or at a pharmacy. For convenience, many may choose to shop at the clinic, while other more cost-conscious consumers may choose to shop around for the best value for money.
However, the key must be that they know the price of each drug administered. It is the patient’s right to know how much he is paying for any product or service.
It is interesting to note that medicines, essential for consumer welfare, are not covered by the Consumer Protection Law, where price information is mandatory and sellers can be charged for not displaying prices.
While it may not be practical to display drug prices at the clinic, at least at the point of payment, the patient should receive that information clearly. Currently, the practice is to group all charges together. Patients have no means of determining whether they are getting the best deal or are being overcharged.
The amendment to the bill would guarantee that protection to some extent. The withdrawal of the bill for the third time is deeply disappointing. The rights of patients have been trampled once again.
Paul Selva Raj is Executive Director of the Federation of Consumers Associations of Malaysia (Fomca).
The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
