Odisha: Court tells state’s doctors to write medical prescriptions in capital letter for clarity
The order came after the judge found it difficult to read a prescription submitted by a prisoner seeking interim bail for a month to take care of his ailing wife.
The Orissa High Court in Cuttack recently issued an order directing the state’s doctors — working in government and private hospitals — to write “legible” prescriptions, preferably in capital letters.
The judge stated that a medical prescription should mot leave any room for uncertainty or interpretation. The order came after the judge found it difficult to read a prescription submitted by a prisoner seeking interim bail for a month to take care of his ailing wife.
The court also noted that illegible handwriting in prescriptions not only creates confusion for the patients but also the pharmacist, other doctors, police, prosecutors and judges who may have to go through such documents during the course of a hearing.
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High court Justice S K Panigrahi made the observation while disposing of a bail application of Krushna Pada Mandal, who is accused in a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, case. "Every physician should prescribe drugs with generic names and preferably in capital letters and he/she shall ensure that there is a rational prescription and use of drugs," he said.
Mandal, who is lodged in a jail in Berhampur, had filed a bail application seeking release to take care of his wife, who is suffering from gynecological, cardio-vascular and hematological complications.
Mandal had applied for an interim bail to get his ailing wife treated, as she lives alone in Ganjam district of Odisha.
However, during the verification of the medical documents of Krushna Mandal’s wife, the court found the handwriting of a doctor’s prescription to be illegible.
Justice SK Panigrahi observed that the physician community at large must walk an extra mile and make conscious efforts to write prescriptions in good handwriting, preferably in capital letters.
The illegible or significantly lower legibility than average handwriting impedes understanding the prescriptions and stand as a barrier to proper comprehension leading to, among others, innumerable medical complications,” said Justice S K Panigrahi.
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