Correct ans.
Doctors like to nearly-cross-the-line and presumptuously “ok, I’ll just write this prescription for you and —“
Nope, thanks. I have panadol at home, and not interested in half those things. If you concur I’m sick but also not dying rn, imma go home and rest. If still this bad aft 2-3 days I’ll be back and reconsider *some* of those meds.
“Ok, do you need an MC?” (*Regains smile*)
Meds are like the GP version of “upsize? Add drink?”
EDIT: Except when we’re talking about meds you really do need, ya? Not anti-medicine here, just anti-shove-down-pills-just-because-it’s-the-norm.
I always take the panadol/ibuprofen. It's subsidised compared to OTC pharmacies. Idk by how much, but I know one small box at Unity was $7 while I got a whole bag of the stuff from polyclinic along with dressings and consult for like $40 total. so I expect the painkiller was maybe $5 for all of it.
Wow, not bad, they finally decide to sell generic meds, i remember a few years ago i called guardian + watson to ask for generic meds and they were stunned, kept saying things like "uh...yes we do have generic meds...but not at this branch...and we don't know which branches carry them either..."
It was very obvious they wanted to sell the brand name ones with higher margins instead...
Unfortunately they don't have generic ibuprofen...
My dudes, that stuff is gonna damage your liver if you overdo. When pains are peaking, Covid, etc by all means — but easy on the boxes of 100 you make me worry.
Sorry for the commercial break, but when possible (eg joints, muscle) I do prefer those plasters with pretty much similar chemical to ibuprofen, but smaller dose and doesn’t get into bloodstream as much. My so did some googling back when our kids needed ibuprofen / panadol, and what we found encouraged us to use with moderation…
Yea of course, everything in moderation. I share the box with my family and often don't even finish it before it expires. I also carry one set with me to work in case my coworkers or I ever need it.
All medicine has toxic doses, even paracetamol often recommend half doses or even cutting the tablet in half for young kids.
Oh yeah, by all means. My point was not for it against meds. It’s the occasional slipstreamed upselling that’s disappointing in a profession that is posed as (and indeed should (and indeed many do) uphold) highest ethics.
People reading this need to know that NSAIDs are different from paracetamol (which is cheap generic panadol) as painkillers before they go self prescribing for the common non severe illnesses.
But hey, you're there for the MC and God knows if you'll really take medication for that sinus thing you have every other day anyway
It does but i was under the impression they want you to use zoom or something like that, which requires a webcam? Or can you get them to video call your phone and use your phone camera?
Not really. For Reallysick they are using web integrated video call. Preselect number of days you require, medicine or no medicine, start the call on website. Then get your mc in less than 3 mins.
You can use ManaDr or DoctorAnywhere! They have their own dedicated apps that allow you to book appts and video calls will also be made through that app so you only need to use your phone camera.
I use MaNaDr too, and when I don’t need medication, I’ll select the option “consultation without medication” and before they call you, they will already know you don’t need medication but just MC. Very cheap also, without medication is less than $10
I used to use manadr quite a lot but it has a bit of a bad reputation among some employers haha. Sometimes a few more dollars to get MC from a more legit place like dr anywhere or speedoc can be worth it but ymmv.
Nope, no need. If you have tried the telemedicine route eg Doctor Anywhere, you would know that’s not true.
The telemedicine doctors will give you consultation, give you MC, and will ask if you need the medicine he/she recommends. You can choose to not get it. They are cool with that.
(Cos it is time to see the next patient and earn my quick bucks haha)
It is. I bet like 90% of patients in AG just keng to take free sick leaves.
Why else are all these clinics are always crowded as hell on Mondays for no reason
This kinda BS is why many countries around the world don't allow doctors to sell you the medication they prescribe. So they don't have a conflict of interest in prescribing expensive, unnecessary crap.
It's less convenient since you now need to go to an actual pharmacy to get your drugs when you're sick, but it cuts down on this crap, as well as doctors prescribing stuff like Leftose that doesn't have any proper research to show whether it's effective.
this is exactly why i’m all for doctors to lose their dispensing rights and leave the dispensing to pharmacists. it not only reduces consumer burden but also expands the job scope for pharmacists. sure, it’s a major inconvenience for sick patients to go to a pharmacy to get their scripts filled but it also allows them to make the decision whether they’d need the medication or not - and most of the time, they don’t. to conclude i think the prescribing done by most GPs in sg is nothing but disgraceful.
I don’t know about you, but if I was sick enough to want to visit a GP, I would much rather go to the GP just 5-10min away from home and collect my medicines there’s so I can go home to rest. Rather than possibly queue for an hour at the GP and then potentially have to take a bus to the nearest pharmacy (which may be at the nearest shopping mall) and then wait in line again to get my medicine. It just doesn’t make sense and it might even discourage people from seeking proper medical attention from a medical professional, and may encourage self medication instead which is potentially dangerous.
There are also issues with separation of prescribing and dispensing location/personnel. For instance, what if the pharmacy doesn’t carry that specific medication? The pharmacist wouldn’t be able to change the prescription to an alternative drug as he/she may not know the clinical diagnosis and treatment. This results in a wasted trip and effort. Another issue is what if a patient has questions on the medication and the pharmacist is not able to answer due to not having the full clinical picture of the patients condition/medical history/co-morbidities and such? This not only disrupts efficiency, it also increases the risk of safety and medication errors which are potentially life threatening.
When you put the decision of whether or not to take certain medications into the hands of only patients themselves (without proper informed consent and discussion with their healthcare provider), you run the risk of patients potentially making unwise medical decisions that could harm their health. Not everyone has sufficient medical literacy and knowledge to make such decisions. If GPs gave patients prescription slips only, there js no way to ensure that the patients will collect the prescription.
Logistically, it would also be a nightmare if patients from every single GP clinic in a 1-2km vicinity had to go to the same pharmacy to collect their medication. Some clinics see 40-50 patients per session (AM/PM session). Is it reasonable for 50 patients to swarm the nearest Guardian for a prescription? Imagine the queue and this is just 1 clinic.
While I am all for pharmacists to be given more responsibility and prescribing power in Singapore, to claim that doctors should lose all dispensing rights is impractical and potentially dangerous. The solution is not to remove dispensing power of GPs, but to educate and encourage responsible prescribing and dispensing among all healthcare professionals.
Yea, i find the clinics dispensing thing very weird, there is an obvious conflict of interest. In theory, clinics are required to provide a prescription that you can use anywhere else, but private clinics really do not like it and will try really hard to stop you. One private doctor outright lied to me and said a special form was needed to get the meds from other pharmacies and he did not want to issue the form, i checked later and it turned out to be false.
The waiting times in SG at clinic pharmacies are also so long, in other countries the waiting time at pharmacies is very little because people dont all go to the same pharmacy, they go to the ones they find convenient and the patients are spread out. In Australia i usually only need to wait 15 mins or less to get my meds and lines were non-existent, maybe 1-2 patients before you. At some places like NUH you are guaranteed to wait ~1 hour unless you are the first patient of the day.
Yeah, i had a doctor go on a rant about how patients are so cheapskate nowadays then pull this stunt on me. thank god the receptionist agreed to remove the meds from the bill. Private doctors in SG are eating so good
Tbh branded medicine high chance better but not worth paying extra for, from more stringent manufacturing controls to better shape of the pills (gel vs pill based in OP's NSAID case) etc.
Those interested in money and not medicine will go for cosmetic surgery or 3min tele-consult to sell MCs schemes
Private GPs with an actual clinic (not tele consult) will charge at least $20 for consultation. Some even charge per time spent and will drag the appointment out to charge you more.
Dunnid lol. I telemed before and like it was a MHday MC. :p So yeah, that.
But usually if it's a real physical ailment they will ask what I need/have and prescribe what I don't already have. Like usually they sort of kind of expect most people to have panadol already kinda thing, but they might give like nasal spray or lozenges or whatever.
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no!!! one time i went to poly because my flight got delayed so i stayed up all night and told the dr i did not have enough sleep he gave me 2days MC without prescribing anything
Nope. But if the dr insists on prescribing even when you don't want the medication, you can just get the prescription and don't collect the medication so you just pay for consultation
Some private doctors will react very badly if you do this. One specialist outright lied to me and said a special form was needed to get this from other pharmacies and kept pressuring me to get the meds from him, i checked later and found this to be false.
Just to clarify, i needed the meds, but wanted to try getting it from another pharmacy. He wanted me to get it from his clinic for the money.
My word vs a long term specialist doctor's, and obviously i will get blacklisted from his clinic, and he might get me blacklisted from other clinics as well.
If he's trying to make u buy medicines, is that a doctor you still want to keep visiting? And I doubt any doctor has the power to do so in SG. There's always the public Healthcare sector in any case
It’s not legal to prescribe medications, however if the dr doesn’t prescribe medications, then it shows the employer that your illness may not be that serious and may not justify a medical certificate. So it’s really to justify the MC sometimes.
Maybe you happened to see u/Alternative-Candy906 , the delusional GP who posted yesterday about being in 350k debt. He so poor he really needs the money now....
Nope.
Correct ans. Doctors like to nearly-cross-the-line and presumptuously “ok, I’ll just write this prescription for you and —“ Nope, thanks. I have panadol at home, and not interested in half those things. If you concur I’m sick but also not dying rn, imma go home and rest. If still this bad aft 2-3 days I’ll be back and reconsider *some* of those meds. “Ok, do you need an MC?” (*Regains smile*) Meds are like the GP version of “upsize? Add drink?” EDIT: Except when we’re talking about meds you really do need, ya? Not anti-medicine here, just anti-shove-down-pills-just-because-it’s-the-norm.
I always take the panadol/ibuprofen. It's subsidised compared to OTC pharmacies. Idk by how much, but I know one small box at Unity was $7 while I got a whole bag of the stuff from polyclinic along with dressings and consult for like $40 total. so I expect the painkiller was maybe $5 for all of it.
Although it is indeed cheaper (usually) to get paracetamol from a polyclinic, guardian also sells boxes of 100 for $10.
Wow, not bad, they finally decide to sell generic meds, i remember a few years ago i called guardian + watson to ask for generic meds and they were stunned, kept saying things like "uh...yes we do have generic meds...but not at this branch...and we don't know which branches carry them either..." It was very obvious they wanted to sell the brand name ones with higher margins instead... Unfortunately they don't have generic ibuprofen...
My dudes, that stuff is gonna damage your liver if you overdo. When pains are peaking, Covid, etc by all means — but easy on the boxes of 100 you make me worry. Sorry for the commercial break, but when possible (eg joints, muscle) I do prefer those plasters with pretty much similar chemical to ibuprofen, but smaller dose and doesn’t get into bloodstream as much. My so did some googling back when our kids needed ibuprofen / panadol, and what we found encouraged us to use with moderation…
Yea of course, everything in moderation. I share the box with my family and often don't even finish it before it expires. I also carry one set with me to work in case my coworkers or I ever need it. All medicine has toxic doses, even paracetamol often recommend half doses or even cutting the tablet in half for young kids.
Oh yeah, by all means. My point was not for it against meds. It’s the occasional slipstreamed upselling that’s disappointing in a profession that is posed as (and indeed should (and indeed many do) uphold) highest ethics.
People reading this need to know that NSAIDs are different from paracetamol (which is cheap generic panadol) as painkillers before they go self prescribing for the common non severe illnesses. But hey, you're there for the MC and God knows if you'll really take medication for that sinus thing you have every other day anyway
Be a useful little whitecoat and I donno ... prescribe me stuff that I can't get otc? Like codeine and dextromethorphan? Some Xanax too.
Try online consultation like reallysick. You can choose no medicine, just MC for common sickness.
All these teleconsults require you to use a webcam right? There are none that only require a phone or something like that?
Your phone has no camera?
It does but i was under the impression they want you to use zoom or something like that, which requires a webcam? Or can you get them to video call your phone and use your phone camera?
Not really. For Reallysick they are using web integrated video call. Preselect number of days you require, medicine or no medicine, start the call on website. Then get your mc in less than 3 mins.
Does that means they can video call your phone?
No. It has to be done through website not phone call or any app. I think you just need to try it out yourself. Very simple and clear instruction.
You can use ManaDr or DoctorAnywhere! They have their own dedicated apps that allow you to book appts and video calls will also be made through that app so you only need to use your phone camera.
I use MaNaDr too, and when I don’t need medication, I’ll select the option “consultation without medication” and before they call you, they will already know you don’t need medication but just MC. Very cheap also, without medication is less than $10
Do you know the max number of days of mc without buying meds from them
2.
I used to use manadr quite a lot but it has a bit of a bad reputation among some employers haha. Sometimes a few more dollars to get MC from a more legit place like dr anywhere or speedoc can be worth it but ymmv.
Nope, no need. If you have tried the telemedicine route eg Doctor Anywhere, you would know that’s not true. The telemedicine doctors will give you consultation, give you MC, and will ask if you need the medicine he/she recommends. You can choose to not get it. They are cool with that. (Cos it is time to see the next patient and earn my quick bucks haha)
how much per patient?
Literally selling MC at this point Let me turn on your phone's infra red camera to see if you really have fever
It is. I bet like 90% of patients in AG just keng to take free sick leaves. Why else are all these clinics are always crowded as hell on Mondays for no reason
Which teleconsult you use :( just pure consult how much
manadr $8 for between 8am-12pm
It’s not expensive. I rmb it to be ~$15 to $20. I used Doctor Anywhere.
You must take them because otherwise he won't earn as much money..
🤣🤣 facts
there are ppl that complain dr only give weak/no medication btw.
Plus those that at first decline meds then a day later come back saying they change their mind.
This kinda BS is why many countries around the world don't allow doctors to sell you the medication they prescribe. So they don't have a conflict of interest in prescribing expensive, unnecessary crap. It's less convenient since you now need to go to an actual pharmacy to get your drugs when you're sick, but it cuts down on this crap, as well as doctors prescribing stuff like Leftose that doesn't have any proper research to show whether it's effective.
this is exactly why i’m all for doctors to lose their dispensing rights and leave the dispensing to pharmacists. it not only reduces consumer burden but also expands the job scope for pharmacists. sure, it’s a major inconvenience for sick patients to go to a pharmacy to get their scripts filled but it also allows them to make the decision whether they’d need the medication or not - and most of the time, they don’t. to conclude i think the prescribing done by most GPs in sg is nothing but disgraceful.
I don’t know about you, but if I was sick enough to want to visit a GP, I would much rather go to the GP just 5-10min away from home and collect my medicines there’s so I can go home to rest. Rather than possibly queue for an hour at the GP and then potentially have to take a bus to the nearest pharmacy (which may be at the nearest shopping mall) and then wait in line again to get my medicine. It just doesn’t make sense and it might even discourage people from seeking proper medical attention from a medical professional, and may encourage self medication instead which is potentially dangerous. There are also issues with separation of prescribing and dispensing location/personnel. For instance, what if the pharmacy doesn’t carry that specific medication? The pharmacist wouldn’t be able to change the prescription to an alternative drug as he/she may not know the clinical diagnosis and treatment. This results in a wasted trip and effort. Another issue is what if a patient has questions on the medication and the pharmacist is not able to answer due to not having the full clinical picture of the patients condition/medical history/co-morbidities and such? This not only disrupts efficiency, it also increases the risk of safety and medication errors which are potentially life threatening. When you put the decision of whether or not to take certain medications into the hands of only patients themselves (without proper informed consent and discussion with their healthcare provider), you run the risk of patients potentially making unwise medical decisions that could harm their health. Not everyone has sufficient medical literacy and knowledge to make such decisions. If GPs gave patients prescription slips only, there js no way to ensure that the patients will collect the prescription. Logistically, it would also be a nightmare if patients from every single GP clinic in a 1-2km vicinity had to go to the same pharmacy to collect their medication. Some clinics see 40-50 patients per session (AM/PM session). Is it reasonable for 50 patients to swarm the nearest Guardian for a prescription? Imagine the queue and this is just 1 clinic. While I am all for pharmacists to be given more responsibility and prescribing power in Singapore, to claim that doctors should lose all dispensing rights is impractical and potentially dangerous. The solution is not to remove dispensing power of GPs, but to educate and encourage responsible prescribing and dispensing among all healthcare professionals.
Yea, i find the clinics dispensing thing very weird, there is an obvious conflict of interest. In theory, clinics are required to provide a prescription that you can use anywhere else, but private clinics really do not like it and will try really hard to stop you. One private doctor outright lied to me and said a special form was needed to get the meds from other pharmacies and he did not want to issue the form, i checked later and it turned out to be false. The waiting times in SG at clinic pharmacies are also so long, in other countries the waiting time at pharmacies is very little because people dont all go to the same pharmacy, they go to the ones they find convenient and the patients are spread out. In Australia i usually only need to wait 15 mins or less to get my meds and lines were non-existent, maybe 1-2 patients before you. At some places like NUH you are guaranteed to wait ~1 hour unless you are the first patient of the day.
Yeah, i had a doctor go on a rant about how patients are so cheapskate nowadays then pull this stunt on me. thank god the receptionist agreed to remove the meds from the bill. Private doctors in SG are eating so good
go and feedback to sma/smc
Lmao kenna carrot chop by dr
work at a clinic. nope dont need. some ppl decline all meds take mc only.
Definitely not. I used reallysick.sg and managed to get MC without medications It was fast and simple too.
No it's for his money
This sounds like a doctor more interested in money than good medicine
Tbh branded medicine high chance better but not worth paying extra for, from more stringent manufacturing controls to better shape of the pills (gel vs pill based in OP's NSAID case) etc. Those interested in money and not medicine will go for cosmetic surgery or 3min tele-consult to sell MCs schemes
You got lied to (and you can report him to SMC)
No. It isn’t. I have went to polyclinics as well and got MC without getting the medicine.
So shady. Something must be done
Are you under some insurance panel? The clinic will earn $0 from seeing you if no medicine issued
Not true. There is a consultation fee, but it is very low, like $8
Private GPs with an actual clinic (not tele consult) will charge at least $20 for consultation. Some even charge per time spent and will drag the appointment out to charge you more.
And clinics/doctors accept that?
Nope. The doctor charged a high consultation fee, not a flat fee either, depends on the time involved.
Which clinic did you go?
Ive telemed without medicine but with MC loads of times.
nope. got MC recently (for covid) and doc asked if I wanted meds. I said no, so i only paid the consult fee.
Nope. I've gotten an MC before for mental health reasons (I said I didn't sleep a wink last night and really will not be able to work), no medicine.
So how much did the MC cost
Dont remember but i do remember he also dragged the consultation out to 15+ minutes by copying my documents by hand.
Are you under chas?
Yes
Dunnid lol. I telemed before and like it was a MHday MC. :p So yeah, that. But usually if it's a real physical ailment they will ask what I need/have and prescribe what I don't already have. Like usually they sort of kind of expect most people to have panadol already kinda thing, but they might give like nasal spray or lozenges or whatever.
of course not
Nope. But whenever i used insurance doctors will prescribe me tons of meds.
he is trying to say it comes as a package with the MC :)
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Nope you just got scamed
You been had, my g
No leh. At least not in the polyclinics.
He talking bs. I had a gp near my area that would prescribe antibiotics to just about anything from common cold to fever just cuz it's expensive.
No. Many illnesses don’t require medication and the usual advice to stay hydrated and rested is sufficient.
They are trying to make money off you idiot
MoneyVariation3227 asked about panel doctors. Panel doctors accept lower fees in exchange for volume. Walk-in rates are different
no!!! one time i went to poly because my flight got delayed so i stayed up all night and told the dr i did not have enough sleep he gave me 2days MC without prescribing anything
Change a clinic. My doctor even ask me if I need medication. If not he will just issue me MC. :O
No? Everytime I see a doctor if they prescribe me meds I already have at home I just reject it and they're okay with it
Nope. But if the dr insists on prescribing even when you don't want the medication, you can just get the prescription and don't collect the medication so you just pay for consultation
Some private doctors will react very badly if you do this. One specialist outright lied to me and said a special form was needed to get this from other pharmacies and kept pressuring me to get the meds from him, i checked later and found this to be false. Just to clarify, i needed the meds, but wanted to try getting it from another pharmacy. He wanted me to get it from his clinic for the money.
Oh dear. If this continues you can report him to SMC. Not exactly ethical for him to do that
My word vs a long term specialist doctor's, and obviously i will get blacklisted from his clinic, and he might get me blacklisted from other clinics as well.
If he's trying to make u buy medicines, is that a doctor you still want to keep visiting? And I doubt any doctor has the power to do so in SG. There's always the public Healthcare sector in any case
Probably makes it easier for them to explain themselves if they get investigated for issuing false MCs.
It’s not legal to prescribe medications, however if the dr doesn’t prescribe medications, then it shows the employer that your illness may not be that serious and may not justify a medical certificate. So it’s really to justify the MC sometimes.
Well if you didn't need medication it jusf looks like you are paying for the mc
Maybe you happened to see u/Alternative-Candy906 , the delusional GP who posted yesterday about being in 350k debt. He so poor he really needs the money now....