Across Malaysia, pharmacies are no longer content with dispensing medicines. They have become bolder, creeping into areas that belong squarely to trained medical doctors, offering “health screenings” that carry life-and-death implications for unsuspecting citizens.
Blood pressure checks may be harmless enough, but when pharmacies start running atrial fibrillation screenings, full lipid profiles, HbA1c testing, body fat analysis, and uric acid measurements, they are crossing a line that should never be crossed.
These are not retail services. They are clinical investigations that demand deep medical knowledge, interpretation, and accountability, skills pharmacists are not trained or licensed to provide.
The Real Dangers To Ordinary Malaysians
At first glance, these screenings may look convenient and affordable. But in reality, they are a trap for the average citizen:
A patient told, “Your cholesterol is high,” without medical counselling may rush to buy supplements or self-medicate with over-the-counter remedies, masking the real danger of a brewing cardiac event.
A false positive for atrial fibrillation can trigger fear, unnecessary expenses, and even harmful self-treatment.
A false negative, on the other hand, could mean a stroke waiting to happen, with the patient lulled into a false sense of security.
Misinterpreted HbA1c or glucose levels may lead patients to delay seeing a doctor, worsening diabetes complications that are otherwise preventable.
When pharmacies hand over results without medical interpretation, patients are abandoned in a minefield of confusion. Numbers mean nothing without context, and context requires the years of training that only doctors possess.
Pharmacies Growing Bolder, Beyond Their Expertise
This is not an isolated incident. Pharmacies, emboldened by weak oversight, are steadily branding themselves as mini clinics. Their marketing is aggressive, their packages cheap, and their message simple: “Why see a doctor when we can do it here?”
But the truth is, pharmacies are retail businesses. Their main incentive is sales, not patient outcomes.
Every “health screening” sold is a revenue stream, not a medical service. And yet, they cloak these offerings under the guise of health care, exploiting the trust of the public while eroding the sanctity of medical practice.
This is not collaboration with doctors. This is outright encroachment. It is reckless, profit-driven, and dangerous.
Ministry Of Health Must Act Now
Despite warnings from medical associations and practitioners, pharmacies continue to push deeper into doctors’ territories without impunity. The Ministry of Health (MOH) should not keep silence.
Every day that MOH delays action, more citizens are misled, more patients are placed at risk, and more trust in the health care system is eroded. Regulation is not optional; it is urgent. MOH must act now, on this creeping medicalisation by retail pharmacies.
Patients Deserve Doctors, Not Retail Substitutes
Health care is not a supermarket transaction. Patients are not customers buying shampoo or toothpaste. Their lives cannot be reduced to a price tag on a “health screening package.”
Pharmacies must return to their rightful role: supporting doctors by dispensing medicines safely, not pretending to be doctors themselves. Malaysians deserve professional, safe, and accountable care, not misleading shortcuts that gamble with their health.
It is time for MOH to draw the line. Collaboration is welcome. Encroachment is not.
Health care is not retail. Patients are not customers. Their lives are not profit margins.
Dr James Jeremiah is the immediate past president and founding president of the Association of Private Practitioners Sabah (APPS).
This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.