Doctor claims pharmacies acting unlawfully

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KUCHING: A concerned medical practitioner has taken pharmacies here to task over practices he deemed to be unlawful and could potentially cost people’s lives.

Capt (Rtd) Dr Forest Kang

Captain (Rtd) Dr Forest Kang, who runs a private clinic here, has written a letter to the Health Ministry and the State Health Department which outlines his complaints such as pharmacies selling controlled medicines without a doctor’s prescription and offering blood tests.

He also claimed there were accounts of pharmacists acting like doctors by providing diagnosis of patients’ ailments, which according to him has been going on in Kuching for years.

The letter, which was submitted last month, requests the authorities to monitor these alleged malpractices for the benefit of the patients and the public as a whole.

According to Dr Kang, some of his patients had skipped their medical check-ups and resorted to purchasing prescription drugs from pharmacies.

“I am concerned for patients who are on medication for chronic diseases such as high blood, diabetes, cholesterol, and heart problems. The problem with having prescription drugs as over-the-counter (OTC) medicine is that the patients will disappear from the follow-ups with doctors.

“Most of my patients have defaulted from the follow-ups because they purchased their medicines at cheaper prices in pharmacies. This does not occur to myself alone, but also to my other colleagues running their clinics.

“Patients will happily purchase the medicines from pharmacies without knowing that there are certain medicines that they cannot take due to their health condition. The pharmacists themselves would not know (of their conditions) because they are not doctors,” he told The Borneo Post in an interview.

Dr Kang said under the Poisons Act 1952, controlled medicines such as antibiotics and those for high blood pressure and diabetes all come under the Group B Poisons category and were strictly to be dispensed upon prescription by a registered medical practitioner.

“Some pharmacists did not write in the names of the medicine when selling them – the worst part is that the medicines are prescriptive – this is wrong. If they do that, the patients will mix up their medications,” he said.

He said there were pharmacies offering blood tests at their premises, and claimed the pharmacists acted as doctors by diagnosing patients without further check-ups and recommendations by a registered doctor.

“Some of them engaged a testing consultant to conduct blood tests in their pharmacies, which I think is allowed. The problem is that when the report comes, (the pharmacists) would read the blood test to the patients, which is something they are not supposed to do,” he said.

Dr Kang opined that that there should be awareness among the public of what they should do when they fall ill such as consulting doctors and having their medicine prescribed.

“The actual victims are the patients because they are naive and they do not know the law. Ultimately it is up to the people like us (medical practitioners), the government, plus the pharmacists, who should provide this awareness to the public.

“It is not like we are taking action against the pharmacist for their misconduct, we are merely trying to educate both pharmacists and patients in terms of what to do when people are sick,” he added.

Susan Tang

When contacted, Sarawak Pharmaceutical Society (SPS) president Susan Tang pointed out there were many medicines under Group C, especially those for diabetics, which do not require prescriptions from doctors.

She added that most pharmacies could assist the public to monitor their health, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, as many did not want to go to clinics.

“Even those prescribed by the hospital or polyclinic are mostly under Group C. In pharmacies, these are out to be sold to customers.

“And then, we have to make a judgement call by looking at their results and provide them advice on what to eat and what food to avoid; and we spend our time teaching them how to live a healthy lifestyle. We also teach them how to take the medicine, whether it is taken before or after food,” she explained.

On pharmacies conducting blood tests at their premises, Tang said they could invite laboratories to go to their premises and conduct tests there and the pharmacists would then provide them with lifestyle advice.

She added that the patients could undergo the test and discuss their blood test results with health professionals.

“There are a lot of patients’ conditions whereby there is no need for them to take prescribed medication as there are also herbal and traditional medicines available to them. Even drug companies such as those selling supplements and vitamins are doing this,” Tang added.

On pharmacies selling prescription medicines without doctors’ prescriptions, Tang agreed there were many “grey areas” in the sale of controlled medicines and cited online shopping platforms.

“For individuals, I cannot speak for everybody because at the moment we do not know the situation. We do know one thing with the current Covid-19 pandemic, you can even get a lot of medicines online without prescription. You can even get sleeping pills online.

“Mind you these sellers are not only from Malaysia, but from all over the world. So we are still debating and asking the government to see how they handle this problem,” she added.

The Borneo Post has reached out to the Malaysian Medical Association and the Health Department for comments.