[Exclusive] Doctors’ Licences For RM40,000: Behind Malaysia’s Aesthetic Clinic Trade

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Datuk Dr Nimi Sutina Nordin devoted nearly a decade to earn the qualifications for aesthetic practice

But her dedication counts for nothing to some, who boldly approach her with offers to "rent" her Letter of Credentialing and Privileging (LCP), the licence required to practise as an aesthetician.

She was approached twice in 15 years, with the top offer standing at RM40,000 a month.

But for Dr Nimi Sutina, no amount of money is worth endangering lives.

Speaking to SAYS, Dr Nimi Sutina said that under such deals, she would not need to see to any patients, but her name and certification would be displayed on the clinic wall.

Instead of doctors, other beauticians would perform the procedures

Dr Nimi Sutina said the most recent offer came shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic.

A fellow doctor proposed what appeared to be a business collaboration, but it was actually an attempt to test her willingness to lease her LCP for RM30,000 a month.

"No need to (come in) at all. I just give them my LCP.

"I got two other clinics to go to, I said I have no time.

"But he said, 'No, don't worry, we just need your LCP, we'll pay you this amount, we'll put it there.'

"He was blatantly telling me to rent it out. 'You just give'," she said. 

The LCP is a certification issued by the Health Ministry that authorises a practitioner to perform specific aesthetic procedures, and an aesthetic clinic cannot legally operate without a practitioner who holds the certification.

A monthly RM40,000 for just a weekly appearance

Dr Nimi Sutina said some 15 years ago, she was once offered RM40,000 a month to make token weekly appearances so a businessman could open an aesthetic clinic under her name. 

Such arrangements, she claimed, are not rare. In fact, they are an open secret.

"We hear about it all the time, people being offered and all that. There are many centres set up by businessmen.

"So, it's a matter of whether I want easy money and I look the other way.

"It's not the way I want to make money. It's not halal," she said.

Behind these glossy storefronts, unqualified personnel often perform high-risk procedures such as injecting fillers, botox, and other substances while hiding behind a doctor's certificate.

"And then they will use that (certificate) to promote their clinic. They legalise it, in a way.

"(But) other people are doing the injections," she said.

Dr Nimi Sutina, who has been practised medicine for over 30 years, claimed younger doctors are also being lured to rent their LCPs for amounts up to three times the market rate.

This, she added, leave legitimate clinics struggling to recruit talent.

"A lot of times, they offer doctors with LCP huge pay, more than three times the market rate, which frustrates us, because then when we want to hire, we can't," she said.

It's not just LCPs. Some doctors have even offered to rent out their Annual Practising Certificate (APC), the mandatory licence to practise medicine, to beauty centres that need it to purchase certain drugs required in aesthetic procedures.

In Malaysia, under Section 15 of the Poisons Act 1952, doctors must hold a valid APC to legally procure prescription drugs.

"Most of the time, they (young doctors) are just sitting there. The manager directs them on what to do while the nurses perform the jabs.

"There is also a story I received from a young doctor who told me she was not allowed to ask questions.

"The manager will bring out the tray, with the injectables on the tray. When she asks what's inside each one, they won't say," she claimed.

She warned that renting out licences would endanger patients, erode trust in the profession, and reduce medicine to nothing more than a commercial trade.

"I think these people who rent their licences for the money are not doing the fraternity any good. It's bad for the fraternity, and it is irresponsible.

"The aesthetic medical industry is so commercialised, and sometimes they forget that we, at the end of the day, are still doctors and we still have to take care of the patient.

"They are still our patients. They're not just customers," the senior doctor said. 

Read the complete investigation report here.