Materia Medica Malaysiana

More Singaporeans buy prescriptive slimming pills in Johor

SINGAPORE : The number of people diagnosed with anorexia in Singapore due to slimming pill abuse has tripled in the last four years.
And this could be due to the ease with which they can get their hands on prescriptive slimming pills - without prescriptions.
Doctors say an increasing number of Singaporeans find over the counter slimming drugs just not effective enough.
So, they travel overseas or go online to buy large quantities of controlled obesity treatment drugs - but at what price?
Just across the Causeway, Johor Baru in Malaysia has a thriving pharmaceutical business servicing Singaporeans.
At Taman Sentosa, for example, pharmacists say more than 50 percent of their clients are Singaporeans.
Appetite suppressants like Reductil and Duromine, which also boosts the metabolism rate, are popular buys.
When asked, the pharmacists say they do not sell obesity treatment drugs without a doctor's prescription.
But there is no lack of Singaporeans who try to get them!
One Malaysian pharmacist agreed that Singaporeans do come up with all kinds of excuses to get the drugs.
But contrary to what the pharmacists say, it was not all that difficult to buy these drugs without a prescription.
When this reporter first tried to purchase Reductil from a pharmacy, the counter staff was at first reluctant and insisted on seeing her doctor's prescription.
But when she offered to pay RM$30 extra, the counter staff happily handed over the box of controlled drug.
The staff even asked her if she would like to purchase a few extra boxes.
This reporter asked another pharmacist if she could purchase five boxes of Reductil and another five boxes of Duromine?
He replied: "We have stock at the moment."
At another pharmacy, the reporter was told the prescription drugs could be delivered to her in Singapore for 20 ringgit!
The ease with which the drugs can be obtained worries some doctors.
At the Singapore General Hospital, six new anorexic patients seek help every week because of slimming pills abuse.
It is a figure that has tripled since the year 2000.
Many also suffer other adverse side effects.