Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell has warned Mexicans of the risks involved in using the small doctor’s clinics attached to pharmacy chains, such as Farmacias Guadalajara, Benavides and others.
The main objective of these clinics, which usually charge a token fee for a doctor’s consultation rarely more than 30 pesos, is “the massive sale of medicines and not the health of Mexicans,” Lopez-Gatell said.
The doctors employed at these clinics are all “recent graduates,” and “under pressure to write prescriptions for multiple medications, not solving health problems,” he said. “The important thing is that (patients) leave with a prescription for 6, 8, 10, 15 medications.”
Lopez-Gatell said that the health and life of patients with conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, or chronic lung or heart disease could be compromised by imprecise or incorrect diagnosis at these clinics.
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