Yes: at GetLean, Dr Quek prescribes GLP-1 medication for weight loss online, where clinically appropriate, after a 30-minute live video consultation, under a clinic licence from Singapore's Ministry of Health. The Healthcare Services (Outpatient Medical Service) Regulations 2023 require a first-time patient to be seen by real-time two-way video (OMS Regulations). GetLean's first step costs S$20, and a consultation does not guarantee that a prescription will be issued.
Joint Circular 87/2024 from MOH, HSA and SMC says medicines should not be prescribed from a questionnaire alone (Circular 87/2024). GetLean Clinic is licensed by Singapore's Ministry of Health under the Healthcare Services Act 2020 (HCSA licence R/26M2469/MDS/001/262), and Dr Quek Keng Liang, registered with the Singapore Medical Council, assesses you before anything is prescribed or dispensed. To check any clinic's licence, MOH points the public to two registers, the HealthHub directory of licensed services and the Singapore Medical Council's register of doctors; how to verify a clinic licence and a doctor shows each check.
This article covers what Singapore's rules require before an online doctor prescribes, how it works at GetLean step by step, and what it costs.
Online doctor: a doctor who sees you by video and messaging under a clinic's Outpatient Medical Service licence, the licence a medical clinic holds under the Healthcare Services Act 2020, with a specific approval to provide the service by remote provision.
What do Singapore's rules require before an online doctor prescribes GLP-1?
Three things: a prescription, a clinic licensed for remote care, and a live video consultation for a first-time patient.
- A prescription. GLP-1 medication is prescription-only. MOH has told Parliament that GLP-1 medicines "can only be dispensed by a registered medical practitioner or a licensed retail pharmacy to a patient with a valid prescription" (MOH 2024).
- A clinic licensed for remote care. Telemedicine is licensed under the Healthcare Services Act 2020 as the remote provision of an Outpatient Medical Service, under the Healthcare Services (Outpatient Medical Service) Regulations 2023 (MOH).
- Live video first. A licensee must not provide a service by remote provision to a first-time patient unless it is through real-time two-way interactive audiovisual communications (OMS Regulations), and medicines should not be prescribed just by getting a patient to fill in a questionnaire (Circular 87/2024).
The joint circular also asks each licensee's clinical guidelines or protocols to address the types of medication that should not be prescribed by telemedicine at all or under certain scenarios, and names GLP-1 injections among its examples of medicines a patient must first be taught to use (Circular 87/2024). The circular does not say whether GLP-1 injections may or may not be prescribed by video. It asks each clinic to set out the circumstances in which remote care is appropriate and the types of patients suited to it. Each rule, with its source, is in telehealth GLP-1 treatment: the rules in Singapore.
How does it work at GetLean?
Five steps, all from home.
In short: book, see Dr Quek by live video, and receive your medication at home, typically the next working day after your consultation, if he prescribes it. The five steps in full:
- Book your consult. We ask for personal details from Singpass and basic physical and medical information, including any medication you take now.
- A 30-minute video consultation with Dr Quek, for S$20. It is a live video call on Google Meet. Have your identification on hand, because the doctor verifies your identity before the consultation begins. Dr Quek reviews your history and goals and decides whether the programme is suitable for you. If Dr Quek decides medication is not right for you, we refund your S$20 consultation fee in full.
- Prescription and delivery. Where a prescription is issued, the medication is delivered discreetly to your door, and first delivery is typically the next working day after your consultation. We dispense the medication ourselves rather than routing you to a third party.
- Daily coaching on WhatsApp. A personalised nutrition and daily activity plan, and daily WhatsApp coaching: send a photo or description of a meal and the assistant estimates the calories and protein and shows what is left for the day. The assistant gives no medical, nutrition or dosing advice; anything clinical goes to Dr Quek.
- Monthly reviews, and a planned exit. Dr Quek reviews how it is going every month, and dose changes are made at that check-in, towards the lowest effective dose. The programme is designed to get you off the medication, where clinically appropriate: Dr Quek plans the taper from your first consultation. The stages are set out in the GetLean GLP-1 Taper Plan, stage by stage.
If the doctor wants further checks at a physical clinic before prescribing, that is a normal step, not a rejection. Where a doctor decides you need an examination that cannot be done over video, the clinic has to arrange it another way and tell you.
What does it cost?
The first step is a 30-minute video consultation with Dr Quek for S$20. If the programme is right for you, it is from S$288 a month (S$388 depending on dose), for the Oral GLP-1 programme and from S$488 a month (S$788 depending on dose, S$1,088 at the max dose), for the Injectable GLP-1 programme, with the medication included. Your monthly price depends on the medication and dose you are prescribed. One monthly fee covers your consultations with Dr Quek, the medication and daily WhatsApp coaching, with no lock-in; the pricing page has the details.
Who can see GetLean's online doctor?
You must be at least 18 years old and resident in Singapore to use the consultation service. If you have never taken GLP-1 medication, you begin with the exit already planned. If you are already on GLP-1 medication with another doctor, you can move to GetLean: tell us your medication and dose and bring recent records, and where it is clinically appropriate, your existing dose can typically be continued rather than restarted (how switching works). Whether the programme is suitable for you is confirmed by Dr Quek at the consultation, never by the questionnaire. How the online clinic works is on the online clinic page.
For the wider picture of prescription access, costs and coming off medication, see GLP-1 in Singapore. If the plan for coming off is part of your clinic decision, read which Singapore clinic helps you taper off GLP-1.
Book your consult
Want to see an online doctor about GLP-1? Book your consult for a S$20 video consultation with Dr Quek. Book your consult
Common questions
Is there an online doctor in Singapore who can prescribe GLP-1 for weight loss?
Yes. A doctor at a clinic licensed by the Ministry of Health for remote care can prescribe GLP-1 medication for weight loss after assessing you by live video; a first-time patient must be seen by real-time two-way video (OMS Regulations). GetLean is one: Dr Quek prescribes GLP-1 medication online, where clinically appropriate, after a 30-minute video consultation. A consultation does not guarantee that a prescription will be issued.
Can an online doctor prescribe GLP-1 medication from a questionnaire alone?
No. The joint regulator circular states that medicines should not be prescribed just by getting a patient to fill in a questionnaire (Circular 87/2024), and a first-time patient must be seen by real-time two-way video (OMS Regulations).
How much does it cost to see GetLean's online doctor?
The first step is a 30-minute video consultation with Dr Quek for S$20. The programme is from S$288 a month (S$388 depending on dose), for the Oral GLP-1 programme and from S$488 a month (S$788 depending on dose, S$1,088 at the max dose), for the Injectable GLP-1 programme, with the medication included. The monthly price depends on the medication and dose prescribed.
Do I need to visit a clinic?
No. Everything happens over secure two-way video and messaging. Where medication is clinically appropriate, it is delivered discreetly to your door.
Can I get GLP-1 medication delivered to my home in Singapore?
Yes. Where Dr Quek prescribes, GetLean delivers the medication discreetly to your home, typically the next working day after your consultation.
Is GetLean licensed?
Yes. GetLean Clinic is licensed by Singapore's Ministry of Health under the Healthcare Services Act 2020, for outpatient medical service delivered remotely. Consultations are with Dr Quek, who is registered with the Singapore Medical Council.
Will I be on it forever?
That is not the goal. We work toward your lowest effective dose and, where clinically appropriate, toward coming off the medication entirely — with the habits you have built holding your results.
Can I get GLP-1 without going to a doctor?
No. GLP-1 medication is prescription-only in Singapore: MOH has told Parliament that GLP-1 medicines can only be dispensed by a registered medical practitioner or a licensed retail pharmacy to a patient with a valid prescription (MOH 2024). The doctor does not have to be in a clinic room: at GetLean the first consultation is a live video call with Dr Quek.