Guild: Medicine cost hike due to routine annual review<\/a><\/p>\nAnand said opting for generics also allows him to manage his healthcare expenses without compromising on treatment.<\/p>\n
Housewife Linda Ling, 48, compares prices whenever she buys supplements.<\/p>\n
Her usual purchases every two months include fish oil and multivitamins.<\/p>\n
\u201cI go to stores and compare simi\u00adlar products, and also brands. Every ringgit counts, but of course, our health is the priority,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ling said she had also begun comparing prices over e\u00ad-\u00adcommerce platforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnline, we can use vouchers to get lower prices. However, there have been instances when products seem much cheaper than usual. Those raise red flags.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to be careful and only purchase from legitimate stores online,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
A sales manager, who wanted to be known only as Faizal, said convenience often influenced his purchases, especially for over-the-counter medication.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually, I would just buy from the nearest pharmacy when I need medicines.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, for long-term items like supplements, I will check prices and brands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He, too, is wary of online sales, despite the attractive discounts.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes, the price diffe\u00adrence is quite big, and that makes you wonder if the product is ge\u00ad\u00adnuine. I\u2019d rather pay slightly more than risk buying something unsafe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Business executive Aisyah Farid, 26, said affordability plays the biggest role when making supplement purchases.<\/p>\n
\u201cI usually ask for cheaper options or generics. As for supplements like vitamins, I try to wait for sales either online or in stores to get the best deal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Aisyah, too, remains cautious when it comes to unfamiliar brands online.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes, the deals just seem too good to be true.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf unsure, I will do a quick online search to check the product\u2019s authenticity. If not, I will check with the pharmacies themselves,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PETALING JAYA: When it comes to medicines, Malaysians have a healthy habit \u2013 they are compa\u00adring prices to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378464,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[6433,197082,17809,197080,134,121338,98251,524,1255,111,139,69,140951,197081,17197],"class_list":{"0":"post-378463","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-affordability","9":"tag-authentic-products","10":"tag-e-commerce-platforms","11":"tag-generic-medicine","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-healthcare-expenses","14":"tag-malaysians","15":"tag-medication","16":"tag-medicines","17":"tag-new-zealand","18":"tag-newzealand","19":"tag-nz","20":"tag-online-purchases","21":"tag-price-comparison","22":"tag-supplements"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}