The fate of the new pharmacy bill: going backwards or forwards?

J Pharm Policy Pract

Unit for Medication Outcomes Research and Education (UMORE), Pharmacy, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, 7001 Hobart, Tasmania Australia ; Vector-borne Diseases Research Group (VERDI), Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Community of Research, Faculty ofPharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 42300 Puncak Alam, Selangor Malaysia.

Published: October 2016

AI Article Synopsis

  • The new Pharmacy Bill of Malaysia aims to update and unify over 60 years of existing pharmacy legislation, comprising 17 parts and 170 sections focused on various aspects of pharmacy practice and drug regulation.
  • Changes to outdated colonial laws are necessary due to the lack of integration and overlaps in current pharmaceutical regulations, but private general practitioners are lobbying for modifications that favor their interests, including more control over medication sales and compounding.
  • A comprehensive reform of pharmacy legislation is essential for improved health services, prioritizing patient safety and transparency in medication management, while ensuring that patients receive the necessary prescriptions and itemized billing.

Article Abstract

Background: The proposed Pharmacy Bill of Malaysia which served to consolidate and harmonise the existing pharmacy legislation which has been used for more than 60 years. This new Pharmacy Bill contains 17 parts and a total of 170 legislative sections covering laws governing pharmacy practice, medicinal products classification, registration, sale, supply, licensing etc. Our article could serve as a case study on pharmacy jurisprudence and drug regulation as well as the governance for medicines.

Discussion: Changes to the colonial era legislation are long overdue as the present pharmaceutical and medical controls are not integrated and various overlaps exist in terms of roles of control. However, various organisations of private general practitioners strongly opposed this Pharmacy Bill and lobbied for a revised version that greatly favours themselves. Thus, the latest revision of this Pharmacy Bill renders the power to medical doctors to not only continue selling and supplying medications but also compound medication.

Summary: A complete overhaul of pharmacy legislation in view of the current challenges faced in providing efficient and comprehensive health services in Malaysia is necessary. For the sake of patients' safety and good governance for medicines, the private general practitioners should empower the patients with their needs for prescription and itemised billing. The proposed Pharmacy Bill could make the whole mechanism of managing and controlling the use of medicines more transparent and synchronised.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5034454PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40545-016-0081-7DOI Listing

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