Dr James Jeremiah schools the KPDN minister, saying transactions in a kedai runcit are “purely commercial”, unlike a clinic where doctors hold duty of care and legal liability. “When doctors err, they face lawsuits, suspensions, and even criminal charges.”
It is truly astonishing, frightening, and disheartening that a full Cabinet minister would equate professional doctors with kedai runcit operators. Such a comparison, made under the guise of “equality before the law,” reveals not just a misunderstanding of health care, but an alarming lack of intellectual depth in policymaking.
Let’s be clear: a kedai runcit sells canned goods, detergent, and instant noodles. Their transactions are purely commercial. There is no duty of care. No legal liability. No professional oath. When a customer picks the wrong item or pays more than expected, it’s a consumer choice, not a matter of life or death.
A professional doctor, however, does not merely “sell medicine.” Doctors assess, diagnose, and treat human beings, people in pain, fear, and vulnerability. Every prescription is backed by many, many years of education, guided by strict medical ethics, and weighed against legal accountability.
We pay for medical indemnity, adhere to licensing laws, submit to continuing professional development, and are answerable to the Malaysian Medical Council. No kedai runcit owner faces such burdens.
In a clinic, the so-called “product” is not just a drug, it is care. It is clinical wisdom, diagnosis, follow-up, risk assessment, and holistic guidance. A misstep can result in permanent harm, or death to the patient.
When doctors err, they face lawsuits, suspensions, and even criminal charges. When kedai runcit owners make mistakes, at worst, they refund an expired tin of sardines.
The fact that such an absurd equivalence was made by a full minister reflects the dangerously shallow policy logic that now governs health care enforcement. It insults every medical professional in the country and demonstrates a total lack of understanding of the sacred doctor-patient relationship.
If this is the level of analysis our ministers offer, then it is not the health care sector that needs reform, it is the Cabinet itself that needs reform.
To KPDN: before you charge into clinics with your price checklists and retail templates, perhaps take a moment to understand the difference between healing a human being and hawking a packet of Milo.
Respectfully, Malaysia deserves leaders who can distinguish between a medical doctor and a shopkeeper. And until that day comes, we will continue to advocate, not just for our profession, but for the dignity of every patient we serve.
Dr James Jeremiah is the past president and founding president of Association of Private Practitioners Sabah.