'Coverage of pharmacy stores in Sabah still lacking'
Published on: Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The doctors diagnose – pharmacists dispense medicine as proposed under the Pharmacy Bill may not be a good idea for Sabah due to the shortage of such pharmacy outlets in rural areas.Consumer Affairs and Protection Society of Sabah (CAPS) City Chairman Mohan Singh Ramday said on Monday the coverage of pharmacy stores in the State has been lacking especially in the suburban areas and it would be insufficient to cover the masses.He said, however, the situation would not affect the city as the number of pharmacists is enough.ADVERTISEMENT "For the time being, it won't work as there are not too many of them there (rural areas)," he told the Daily Express, here.Besides, he also feared the trade of medicine could be abused by those who want to make a quick profit if the bill is approved.Discussions on the Pharmacy Bill are still ongoing despite a debate over its purpose with many doctors seeking the documents to be declassified before it is tabled.Under the bill, doctors are allowed to diagnose patients while pharmacists will ready the medicines.ADVERTISEMENT Speaking from experience, Mohan said a doctor had recently diagnosed him for his cough and jotted down a medicine which he could obtain from a pharmacy nearby."When my wife got them, I got 'intoxicated'. I dozed off.
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"I showed the medicine to my doctor who claimed the medicine prescribed to him was too strong and not what he had prescribed."My wife also had to pay additional for the strong medicine," he said.