During a Legislative Council session on Wednesday, DAB chairman Gary Chan and lawmaker Chan Hoi-yan, a former health official, were among the lawmakers who said they had come across many cases in which patients decided not to pay for the medication or asked for fewer pills because they couldn’t afford it.
In a statement issued early on Friday, the Hospital Authority (HA) said the claims were not true.
It said in the first quarter of this year, around 2.4 percent of patients didn’t collect their medication, representing only a slight change from the 2.2 percent observed for the entire year last year.
The HA added that frontline staff and feedback from patients indicated that since the changes to the fee structure took effect, patients are now more aware they shouldn’t overstock medication at home, especially for meds that should be taken only when necessary.
It noted that during consultation, doctors will assess a patient’s meds profile, such as how much medicine they still have at home and their medication habits.
The authority said in the first two months of this year, more than 70 percent of the uncollected prescriptions were due to doctors needing to complete their records of a patient’s medicinal history.
“The record is important because for the doctor who meets the patient next time, he or she has to know what should be checked as far as special medication for the patient,” said Maria Leung, the chief manager of the HA’s primary and community services.
“So we would put the prescription record down, but the patient actually doesn’t need to collect the meds, and these would count under the uncollected prescription category.”
“Some patients have also proactively requested doctors to reduce prescriptions of such medication to avoid wastage,” a spokesperson for the HA added.
“In the first quarter of 2026, demand for ‘as needed’ medication was about seven percent lower than the same period in 2025.”
The spokesperson said in the event that patients have enough medication, such as pills for chronic diseases or painkillers at home, the doctors would discuss and advise patients that they don’t need to collect the same meds from the pharmacy again to reduce waste.
The HA went on to say that it would ensure that no patient is denied medical care due to a lack of means, saying this fundamental principle would not change.
