BHUBANESWAR : Days after strong observations of the Orissa High Court on doctors’ handwriting, the state government on Friday directed medical professionals to ensure every prescription, postmortem and
medico-legal report is in legible writing.
The Health and Family Welfare department has issued a circular instructing physicians to stop zig-zag handwriting which, in most cases, is not readable by the common man or by judicial officers. Despite instructions to prescribe in clear and legible handwriting reflecting generic names of medicines, the department observed that a substantial number of doctors in the state resort to such handwriting which cannot be read.
In an order issued to all the medical centres, private clinics and medical colleges and hospitals, chief secretary PK Jena said, “The doctors must write in proper handwriting or in a typed form when they are prescribing medicine or writing medico-legal reports as per the guidelines of National Medical Commission (NMC).”
The chief secretary also urged the doctors, dealing with medico-legal issues and writing casually with very poor handwriting, to change their attitude and write either in capital letter or in a typed form or in good handwriting so nobody suffers from unnecessary difficulty in comprehending them.
Expressing displeasure over negligence by many of the medical officers in following government directions given from time to time to prescribe in clear handwriting, Jena said the high court direction must be followed scrupulously.
Even as the duty schedules of medical professionals are erratic and finding time to write something comfortably often hinders their capacity to examine more and more patients within the stipulated time, medicine stores often find it difficult to understand the actual name of drugs.
In a stern order last week, the high court had directed the chief secretary to issue a circular to all the medical centres instructing them to ensure medicine prescriptions and medico-legal reports are written in proper handwriting or in typed form.
Considering a petition filed by the father of a person who died of snakebite, the court had taken strong exception to the casual approach of most doctors while prescribing drugs or writing postmortem reports which has been badly affecting the comprehension of medico-legal documents.