Sale of medicine through prescription: a comparative study between Malaysia and the United Kingdom / Nur Atiqah Mohd Razif, Azlin Zeti Zainal Abidin and Daing Nurul Mahfuzah Daing Ibrahim.

Sale of medicine through prescription refers to the right of health care professionals to dispense medicines that have been prescribed by doctors. Dispensing medicines by community pharmacists specifically, has been practiced in many developed countries for reasons such as professionalism; where pharmacists are generally understood to have more extensive knowledge on medicines, accessibility; where many varieties of medicines are accessible giving rights for consumers to choose and right to self-determination; where there is a need for second opinions as patients today are playing more active role in decision making. In Malaysia, there has been continuous discussion on the overlapping of duties between the two professions, however, there are no studies conducted from the legal perspective. The research was achieved through an extensive library and internet research whereby credible information from legal and medical materials such as scholarly papers, statutes and international codes were gathered and examined. The research was also strengthened by cross-sectional interviews which were conducted on 10 health care professionals from around Shah Alam which are of medical and pharmaceutical backgrounds. The data was collected and analyzed through a set of questionnaires which aimed at understanding further the workings of the two health care professionals. Ultimately, the research aimed at finding out whether there is an ideal system of dispensing prescribed medicines.