Pharmacies relying on non-medical products to stay afloat

KUALA LUMPUR: Despite complaints that Malaysians are paying exorbitant prices for medicine, pharmacists claim their businesses are struggling, with many of them resorting to peddling sweets and other non-medical products to keep afloat.

Refuting accusations that they were selling medicines at high prices, Malaysian Community Pharmacy Guild (MCPG) president Lovy Beh said: “Previously, it was common for pharmacists to charge 25-30% above cost to keep their operations going. But these days, they are charging just an additional 15%. Some of them are even selling the drugs at below cost.”

The MCPG is dedicated to promoting and protecting the interests of pharmaceutical practitioners. It has 13,147 members throughout the country.

Beh painted a bleak picture for community pharmacists (CP), saying that as many as 50% of independent CPs were not doing well.

To keep their business alive, Beh said CPs were “over-servicing” despite getting only limited revenue.

“Over-servicing means pharmacists would sell consumer products like a mini-market. So, non-pharmaceuticals like newspapers, magazines, sweets and ice-cream are sold in the stores to attract more customers,” she said.

They could no longer depend solely on selling medicine to break even, Beh told The Star.

Beh said the “highly competitive market” was forcing CPs to sell medicines below cost, pointing out that the guild was seeing “a lot more closures of businesses” of late.

The CPs, she said, were forced to compete with chain pharmacies and doctors, who are permitted to dispense drugs in Malaysia.

Beh said Malaysia did not practise Dispen­sing Separation (DS) in which doctors prescribe medicine and pharmacists dispense.

She cited countries like Australia and Britain which practised a DS system whereby the cost and the retail price reimbursement for medicines were standardised by the Government.

Malaysia, she said, should also move in this direction.

On Oct 10, at a forum on “Competition Law in the Pharmaceutical Sector” here, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin described Malaysia as a “high-priced island” for pharmaceutical drugs.

He said a lack of government control had led to manufacturers, distributors and retailers setting the prices.

A 2012 study cited in the Journal of Generic Medicines, which compared the retail drug prices between northern Malaysia and Australia, showed that certain medicines could cost 3,218% more in private pharmacies, compared with public hospitals.