Private clinic bills… ‘heartbreaking’

D. Jassim Al Jaber: Measures must be taken to limit prices

Abdul Rahman Ghazawi: Implement unified treatment prices

Abdul Hamid Lingavi: Costs and drugs exaggerated

Citizens criticized the “excessive” rise in fees for hospital treatment and private clinics, which some people resort to to avoid waiting in long queues at government hospitals, and demanded that prices at these clinics be regulated and that regulation be initiated by limiting reasonable profit margins while safeguarding the economic rights of patients rather than exploiting them.
They confirmed that the inflated treatment costs at private hospitals included medical consultations, prices of medicines and treatments in the private sector including dental clinics, whether it involved transplants that required a “heartbreaking” amount or fixed installation operations that might require a “bank advance”.

Price.. and insurance
Mr. Abdul Hamid Lingavi said the high cost of treatment in hospitals and private clinics is due to the lack of supervision and the prevailing commercial awareness in many hospitals, clinics and private medical centers. In my opinion, he stressed that the high prices in the country include the prices of medicines and the cost of treatment in private clinics, who have adopted incorrect pricing policies in the hope of making a quick profit.
“From my own experience, there is inflated prices of medicines both between private hospitals and between private pharmacies, and there are price differences,” he added, adding that some private hospital owners and pharmacy staff are taking the worst advantage. Unfortunately, this is happening by increasing prices at the expense of patients, and I have not forgotten how they took advantage of some of these drugs and cancelled some medicines and tools for healthcare and hygiene at the height of the COVID-19 health crisis.
Al-Lingawi pointed out that there is a need to effectively control price regulation or unify drug prices, especially because many residents cannot deal with external pharmacies if they are not available in government hospitals, noting that Qatar is considered the country with the most expensive drug prices compared to other Arab Gulf countries.
He said harmonizing import prices of medicines between GCC countries, especially for the most common chronic diseases, would reassure patients that medicines available in neighboring countries would be available at the same price in Doha, and would also prevent irregularities or negative incidents such as dispensing medicines to specific companies and not to others in exchange for a commission or a percentage of the price.

Prices vary
For his part, Abdul Rahman al-Ghazawi called on the relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Health, to strengthen controls and impose uniform prices for treatments in these clinics, especially as prices vary widely among them without understanding the reasons.
Ghazawi stressed that the costs of treatment in private hospitals are greatly exaggerated and without clear justification, especially in dental clinics, some of which charge up to 30,000 riyals for braces and 1,000 riyals for fillings, but many citizens are forced to go to private clinics due to the long appointment times at dental clinics, both in health centers and in outpatient clinics at Hamad General Hospital, which suffer from severe overcrowding due to these unorganized appointments, he said.
Ghazawi called for setting a price cap and forcing private clinics to adhere to it, rather than allowing clinic owners to set prices as they see fit, as well as working to develop dental clinics in health centers and increase their number to accommodate the growing number of patients.

Health Center
Rashid Al Marri said that the treatment prices of private clinics in Qatar are higher than those of their counterparts abroad. The difference is that taxes are very high abroad, while we have no taxes in Qatar, so it should be 10% lower than abroad. The rate is as high as 60% to 70%…but we found that the situation is just the opposite.
Al-Marri added that “consultants” in private clinics charge 700 riyals and the victims are citizens, noting the phenomenon of price disparity between private clinics and the need to conduct research on the cost of treatment in Qatar and its high prices. He pointed out the quality of services provided by Hamad Medical Corporation, both in terms of supplies and the level of care provided by the state, which is free of charge, but the pressure on outpatient clinics or health centers is high, which forces many citizens to turn to private clinics to avoid queues.
He stressed that the waiting lists in government departments are too long, especially for some “urgent” cases, forcing citizens to go to private hospitals for treatment, and pointed out that there are many elderly people on the waiting lists and suffering from the crisis of long queues.

Uniform price
Agreeing with this, Khaled Mustafa, a government employee, said that due to the high prices, some citizens prefer to seek treatment abroad rather than go to private clinics in Qatar. He asked the relevant departments that manage these clinics to implement a comprehensive health insurance system to limit the losses suffered by citizens due to excessive prices.
Khalid called for the expansion of health center services to meet the growing demand brought about by the continued population growth, stressing that many treatment services in health centers are in short supply, which is why Hamad Hospital or other hospitals are overcrowded, which conflicts with the level of health care provided by the state. The long waiting list itself conflicts with the quality of health care.

Set Maximum Value
Jaber Al-Marri pointed out that the prices of medicines and medical preparations in private hospitals are inflated and there is a big gap with their counterparts in neighboring countries, pointing out that there are some medicines to treat chronic diseases such as bone pain, and drugs to treat diabetes, blood pressure and heart diseases that are sold in Qatar at three times the price in Gulf countries.
He called for a fundamental solution that would set maximum prices for medicines and medical preparations, strictly control price manipulators and open the door to other supply companies to prevent monopolies.
He pointed out that the high price of medicines has led some people to abuse them, and most importantly to dispense “alternative” medicines due to the high prices of other medicines. He also called on many citizens to buy medicines from abroad at cheaper prices, and some even take advantage of this paradox to sell medicines within Qatar, which has led to many abuses and negative effects.

Alternative medicine
Abdul Rahman Ibrahim said that the high prices of some important medicines needed by many patients have made some individuals rely on buying medicines from abroad and promoting them at lower prices, indicating that there are many individuals who buy medicines from Gulf countries at lower prices and try to smuggle some medicines because most pharmacies have higher prices for some medicines and lack proper price controls, resulting in large price differences for medicines, which is the motivation for many illegal activities.
He explained that the high prices of some drugs force some to distribute alternative and cheaper medicines, which is one of the most dangerous things that can affect an individual’s public health.
He attributed the increase in the prices of many medicines to weak investment in the pharmaceutical industry, despite the presence of all the factors for its success, and pointed out the need to rethink drug prices and reduce profit margins for suppliers. He also called for encouragement and support for the industry so that it can become a tributary of the national economy, meet the needs of the local market, and export to surrounding and foreign markets.

Utilities
For his part, His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Jassim bin Mohammed Al Jaber, Chairman of the Research and Fatwa Committee of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, called for the need to adopt measures and mechanisms to limit the phenomenon of high prices and control experts and decision-makers, especially those who go against the tenets of Islamic law and violate its rules and regulations.