An Indian court recommended that medical schools include handwriting lessons in their curricula to ensure doctors issued clear and readable prescriptions.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court held the right to a legible medical prescription was part of the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Indian constitution, according to LiveLaw. Article 21 protects the right to life and personal liberty.
“The right to know the medical status of a human being is inseparably linked with the right to life,” Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri said, adding that ambiguity caused by bad handwriting could put lives at risk.
Justice Puri was hearing a criminal case from the northern state of Haryana and was unable to read the medico-legal report of a victim.
“It shook the conscience of this court as not even a word or a letter was legible,” he said, according to The Indian Express. “It is very surprising and shocking to note that in this era of technology and accessibility of computers, the notes on the medical history and on the prescriptions by government doctors are still written by hand, which cannot be read by anybody except perhaps some chemists.”
The judge instructed the National Medical Commission to integrate clear handwriting training into medical curricula. Until digital prescriptions become universal, he said, all doctors must write medical notes in capital letters.
The court further directed the central government to speed up the formulation of rules for hospitals and clinics under the Clinical Establishments Act. The rules should include keeping patient records electronically instead of only on paper.
Some Indian hospitals are already moving towards digitisation. The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research in Chandigarh – where the medico-legal report was produced – told the court that it was rolling out a “Doctor Desk” system to generate typed e-prescriptions accessible via a mobile app, according to The Times of India.
The court directed the institute to implement this system preferably within two years. The ruling was pronounced on 27 August.
Mr Puri said the court held the highest respect and regard for doctors and the medical profession “but at the same time it’s equally important to ensure that the fundamental rights of the people of India are duly safeguarded”.
“The problem of illegible handwriting creates a gap, resulting in inefficiencies and further limits the potential benefits of digital health innovations,” the court noted.
Illegible writing by doctors is a subject of countless jokes, but health experts warn it can cause tragic consequences. In India and abroad, there have been cases of wrong medicines being dispensed because of sloppily written prescriptions.
“It’s a well-known fact that many doctors have poor handwriting but that’s because most medical practitioners are very busy, especially in overcrowded government hospitals,” Indian Medical Association president Dr Dilip Bhanushali told the BBC.
His association had asked doctors to “write prescriptions in bold letters that should be readable to both patients and chemists”, he added. “A doctor who sees seven patients a day can do it, but if you see 70 patients a day, you can't do it.”
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