KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — The government has urged pharmaceutical companies to display the recommended retail price of medicines on the packaging.
According to Health Ministry deputy director-general Datuk Dr Jeyanindran Sinnadurai, the move to declare drug prices would curb retailers from hiking prices unreasonably.
“This will promote transparency in the pricing of medicines and drugs. But if retailers want to push the price even lower than the recommended retail price, no problem,” he was quoted saying by local daily The Star.
The ministry planned on amending the Sale of Drugs Act 1952 to have pharmaceutical companies register recommended retail prices in a database or face penalties.
Dr Jeyanindran added that such a practice has already been implemented in countries like Australia and India, which has ensured more “transparency in the pricing of drugs”.
Despite the efforts to ensure more transparency, the move to display drug pricing might also backfire with patients opting for cheaper alternatives instead of effective medicines, the Malaysian Medical Association warned.
“Doctors choose (medicine) based on their evaluation of efficacy and price among others. If this list is published, patients might insist on the cheapest version, which might not be suitable for them,” president Dr Ravindran R Naidu was quoted saying.
He also warned that maintaining an accurate price list for the drugs might also be difficult as drug companies have tiered pricing and bonus schemes, which sees the same drug having different prices depending on the medical institution or doctor.
