Perceptions of general practitioners towards pharmaceutical price war and assessment medicines price variation among general practitioners’ clinics in the state of Penang,Malaysia

Abstract

Background

Malaysian government has currently no drug pricing regulation. Therefore, drug prices are determined by the market force. In Malaysia, dispensing doctors have dual roles in prescribing and dispensing medicines to patients. General practitioners in private clinics are legally permitted to dispense prescription drugs to their patients. Consequently, general practitioners and community pharmacists play a similar functional role in dispensing medicines to patients because system of dispensing separation is still lacking. This study aims to evaluate the perceptions of general practitioners toward issues of pharmaceutical price war, different bonus schemes provided by pharmaceutical companies, and to assess the selling prices of some prescription drugs.

Method

This study is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. Mail survey methodology was adopted in this study to elicit the information of perceptions of general practitioner toward pharmaceutical price war and the selling prices of the top 5 most common Group B prescription drugs in Malaysia. The development of the questionnaire was informed by previous studies Hassali et al. and Tan. All statistical analysis had been performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 17.0.

Results

Of the 40 responses, (68%) were male participants. Forty percent of the respondents prescribed more than 40 prescriptions per day. Majority of the respondents (60%) strongly agreed that community pharmacies have created the phenomenon of pharmaceutical price war. And almost half of the respondents (45%) agreed that it is reasonable to have different bonus schemes based on the quantities ordered for pharmaceutical products. The price of Plavix® (Clopidogrel) has the highest variation among the prescription drugs (Ringgit Malaysia 94.0 ± 20.3). Lipitor® (Atorvastatin) has the least variation among the innovator drugs (Ringgit Malaysia 40.0 ± 1.6).

Conclusion

In order to preserve the viability of community pharmacies and general practitioners in the country, the authorities should monitor medicine prices especially at the private sector to ensure affordability and to ensure pricing of medicines are appropriate.

Keywords

Pharmaceuticals strategy marketing communication pricing generics market access

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