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 \u201chealth screenings\u201d that carry life-and-death implications for unsuspecting citizens.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Real Dangers To Ordinary Malaysians<\/p>\n
At first glance, these screenings may look convenient and affordable. But in reality, they are a trap for the average citizen:<\/p>\n
A patient told, \u201cYour cholesterol is high,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
A false positive for atrial fibrillation can trigger fear, unnecessary expenses, and even harmful self-treatment.<\/p>\n
A false negative, on the other hand, could mean a stroke waiting to happen, with the patient lulled into a false sense of security.<\/p>\n
Misinterpreted HbA1c or glucose levels may lead patients to delay seeing a doctor, worsening diabetes complications that are otherwise preventable.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Pharmacies Growing Bolder, Beyond Their Expertise<\/p>\n
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: \u201cWhy see a doctor when we can do it here?\u201d<\/p>\n
But the truth is, pharmacies are retail businesses. Their main incentive is sales, not patient outcomes. <\/p>\n
Every \u201chealth screening\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
This is not collaboration with doctors. This is outright encroachment. It is reckless, profit-driven, and dangerous.<\/p>\n
Ministry Of Health Must Act Now<\/p>\n
Despite warnings from medical associations and practitioners, pharmacies continue to push deeper into doctors\u2019 territories without impunity. The Ministry of Health (MOH) should not keep silence.<\/p>\n
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,\u00a0on this creeping medicalisation by retail pharmacies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Patients Deserve Doctors, Not Retail Substitutes<\/p>\n
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 \u201chealth screening package.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
It is time for MOH to draw the line. Collaboration is welcome. Encroachment is not.<\/p>\n
Health care is not retail. Patients are not customers. Their lives are not profit margins.<\/p>\n
Dr James Jeremiah is the immediate past president and founding president of the Association of Private Practitioners Sabah (APPS).<\/p>\n
This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Across Malaysia, pharmacies are no longer content with dispensing medicines. They have become bolder, creeping into areas that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,58065,84,392,4758,18100],"class_list":{"0":"post-106805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-general-practitioners-gps","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-healthcare","13":"tag-patient-safety","14":"tag-pharmacists"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}