A Malaysian healthcare worker recently shared her concerns about weight loss medications being sold on social media livestreams, criticising the sellers for alleged lack of proper procedures when promoting these products.
“So unprofessional! Before even starting weight loss medication, you need to see the patient, consult them, and run basic blood tests first.
“Not everything is just about sales, seriously — this isn’t how it’s supposed to be, auctioning off medicines on livestreams. Are you a clinic or just a seller of slimming pills? It’s disgraceful!” she stated in a Threads post.
Netizens agreed with the general practitioner’s views, emphasising how some healthcare establishments prioritise sales over proper protocols, especially when other people’s health is at stake.
“I’m a fellow GP too, and it feels like these people are bringing themselves so low just to make sales! One person does it, and others blindly follow!” a user remarked.
“General practitioners nowadays only care about sales, with certain medical officers sometimes doing free consultations on livestreams. Back then, 10 to 20 years ago, even advertisements were not allowed,” alleged another user.
“This has been going on for months. The workaround is they do consultations via WhatsApp,” claimed another.
“If they are promoting the medication on a livestream without selling, then it is fine. But selling it without proper consultation and delivering the medication by post — what happened to patient safety? Did they forget about the Hippocratic Oath?” commented another.
