LETTER | Patients' rights trampled again

LETTER | The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) is extremely disappointed that the Poisons (Amendment) Bill 2019, that would have enhanced patients’ protection, has been withdrawn. It appears that the government is not concerned about increasing patient protection or patient welfare.

Previous governments had to some extent protected patients by regulating how much doctors could charge patients, as healthcare is a right, not a commodity. However, the previous health minister decided to eliminate the price ceiling and thus there is no price control of how much patients can be charged. 

Doctors can charge as they please. Patients have lost their protection. Thus when the protection provided by setting a ceiling on consultation charges was removed – the patients' rights were trampled.

In addition, one of the promises made was that while doctors could charge as they pleased, with no price ceiling, they would be transparent with their fees to patients, clearly indicating the breakdown of charges for consultation and for each of the medicines prescribed. Each patient would then know exactly how much he or she is being charged for consultation and medicine given.

With transparency in medication costs, the patient can then make a choice on whether he or she wants to purchase from the clinic or a pharmacy. For convenience, many may choose to buy from the clinic; while more cost-conscious consumers may choose to compare prices to get the best value for money. 

However, the key has to be that they are made aware of the price of each of the medicines given. They need not have to ask for the price. It is the consumers’ right to know how much he/she is paying for any product or service.

It is interesting to note that medicine, essential for consumer wellbeing, is not covered by the Consumer Protection Act, where price information is mandatory and sellers can be charged for not displaying the prices. While it may not be practical to display the prices of medicine at the clinic, at the very least, the consumer/patient should be given that information clearly during payment. That is their right.

Currently, the practice is just to lump all the charges – consultation and all the medicines into a single charge. Consumers have no means to ascertain if they are getting the best deal or being overcharged.

The amendment to the bill would have to some extent ensured that protection. The withdrawal of the bill for the third time is deeply disappointing. Patients’ rights have been trampled again.

It appears that in the healthcare industry, patients do not have basic rights and the government is not interested in protecting it. 

The writer is the chief executive officer of the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca).

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.