I refer to the letter Let doctors prescribe, pharmacists supply .

In my opinion, the bottom-line is whether it is unlawful for doctors to dispense medicines? I am not aware of any such laws.

As has been mentioned elsewhere, ‘doctors are legally permitted to prescribe and dispense, and pharmacists are legally permitted to dispense, but not to prescribe’. That is the system in Malaysia.

Therefore, if it is not unlawful or illegal for the doctor to dispense, and equally it is the right of a doctor to dispense, then what is the underlying motive to deprive the doctor of his/her right to dispense?

We doctors cannot just give up this right to dispense just because the pharmacists say so. To compound matters, I am surprised that the Health Ministry has taken the move to conduct pilot studies on this issue, in an attempt to see whether this right of the doctors should be taken away from them.

In my opinion, there is no necessity to conduct such pilot studies. A good system already exists, where the patient, who is the consumer, has the right to choose who he/she wishes to get the drugs from. This means both the rights of the doctor to dispense, and equally the rights of the pharmacists to dispense are not eroded. So why is there a need to change ?

As a doctor, my primary concern for my patient is not to inconvenience him or her in any way. If it is more convenient to dispense the medicine to them from my office, then I will do it.

If I am being accused of charging a higher price for the medicines, then I can say with honesty that many of my patients come back and ask to buy the medicines from me for the reason that they had been charged a higher price at the retail pharmacy from where they had wanted to buy the medicine.

Certainly, my colleagues and I have complained about the high prices of medicine from hospital-based pharmacies. What does the pharmacist have to say ? The usual answer is ‘Well, we are a hospital-based pharmacy, so we have to charge higher than the retail pharmacies’!

So, is this an issue of denting the professionalism of the pharmacists, or is it an issue of just plain simple ringgit and sen? I believe we should be honest to ourselves and be precise about why we are arguing about this right to dispense.

It is not unusual to find pharmacies selling items like chocolates, baby foods, baby products, infant formulas, beauty products, house-hold sundries, greeting cards, etc, ie, items unrelated to what pharmacists have been trained for. Is this sort of practice necessary? Most of these items can be obtained from mini-markets or supermarkets. Do we then expect that, in the future, the mini-markets and supermarkets will be challenging the pharmacies as to why they are selling these non-drug items?

The patient and consumer have rights too. If patients feel comfortable getting their drugs from their own doctors, then why are we denying them of this right? The poor patient is caught in the middle of this argument between the pharmacists and the doctors – this is unfair and unwarranted. If I were a patient, I would want to decide for myself where I get my drugs from.

The doctors have no intention of taking away the rights of the pharmacists to dispense. Why are the pharmacists so adamant to take away the rights of the doctors to dispense ?

I firmly believe that the Health Ministry should not be hasty in planning any strategy to remove the rights of the doctor to dispense and give the total right to dispense to the pharmacists. We should seriously examine the motive and who is behind this motive.

The current system of both the doctors and the pharmacists having equal rights to dispense medications has withstood the test of time and has been a good system for everyone, including the patient. We should just leave it be.