Okaz newspaper T HE Ministry of Health purportedly took many steps to break the suspicious link between doctors and representatives of pharmaceutical companies. A patient had to visit a private hospital for a medical checkup when he failed to get an appointment in a government hospital. After the doctor finished the medical examination and prescribed medicines to him, the doctor stopped him before he went to the hospital pharmacy. The doctor told him that he would not find the medicines he prescribed in the hospital's pharmacy. Instead, he drew a map for him locating three pharmacies where he can find the medicines. The patient was surprised because he gave direction to pharmacies far away when there are pharmacies close by. The patient ignored the doctor and went first to the hospital pharmacy and he did not find the medicine. He did not find it in the pharmacies nearby and he was forced to go to the pharmacies chosen by the doctor. The question is did the Ministry of Health manage to distance the doctor from the hospital pharmacy to the extent that he began dealing with pharmacies outside the hospital. Do we need new laws? If the new laws were formed, then what guarantees do we have that doctors will not start dealing with the agents of pharmaceutical companies again? __
