A Malaysian doctor recently shared a bizarre encounter at her clinic, revealing how some parents misuse medical certificates (MCs).
Dr. Syafinaz took to Threads to describe the situation, which began when a secondary school girl was brought in with symptoms of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI).
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After examination, Syafinaz confirmed the girl was unfit to attend school and issued a two-day MC for rest and recovery.
Things took an unusual turn when the girl’s guardian requested the same MC for her younger brother, who was perfectly healthy.
“But as I was leaving the consultation room, the parent instructed me, ‘Doctor, please give 2 days of MC for the younger brother too since he doesn’t have school.’
“I declined and explained that MCs are only given to those who are unfit for school or work.
“I tried to explain that an MC is a legal document, but neither the parent nor the son wanted to listen.
She said the boy threw a tantrum while the parents made no effort to calm him and instead blamed her for upsetting him.
“And then, to top it off, they left me a bad Google review saying I’m a terrible doctor because I don’t give out MCs,” she wrote.
The post quickly went viral, sparking heated discussion among netizens. Many criticised the parents’ behaviour, with some saying it set a poor example for their children.
“The MC isn’t really the main issue here — I think the problem is the parents. If that were my kids, they’d definitely ‘kena’ right away,” one user called zers13 commented.
“Bad parenting is the biggest issue here. You did right Dr. Let the boy scream his head off at home. Not your issue,” tracylaism wrote.
“Issuing false MC is a felony chargeable under MACC Act 2009,” ahmadebak highlighted.
“This happens because parents do it too frequently when they see a doctor with their kids, but we’re not ready for that conversation,” mantranz11 commented.
