{"id":1301058,"date":"2025-10-05T08:06:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T02:36:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/?p=1301058"},"modified":"2025-10-05T08:07:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T02:37:25","slug":"high-court-orders-indian-doctors-to-improve-handwriting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/high-court-orders-indian-doctors-to-improve-handwriting\/","title":{"rendered":"High Court Orders Indian Doctors To Improve Handwriting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a landmark ruling, the Punjab and Haryana High Court declared that a legible medical prescription is a fundamental right<\/em>, after reviewing a medico-legal report so incomprehensible it \u201cshook the conscience\u201d of the court. Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri directed the government to digitise prescriptions within two years and, until then, mandate that doctors write clearly in capital letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"High<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Recurring Judicial Concern<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is not the first time Indian courts have criticised doctors\u2019 handwriting. The Odisha High Court earlier flagged<\/a> \u201czigzag writing styles,\u201d while the Allahabad High Court lamented reports \u201cso shabby they were indecipherable.\u201d Courts have repeatedly emphasised that prescription clarity isn\u2019t about aesthetics \u2014 it\u2019s about preventing fatal medical errors caused by ambiguity or misinterpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deadly Consequences of Sloppy Writing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Illegible prescriptions have been linked to serious \u2014 even fatal \u2014 consequences globally. A 1999 Institute of Medicine (IoM) report estimated 44,000 preventable deaths annually in the US due to medical errors, with 7,000 attributed to poor handwriting. In Scotland, a woman suffered chemical injuries after being given erectile dysfunction cream instead of eye medication. UK authorities estimate that digitised prescriptions could cut drug errors by up to 50%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India lacks comprehensive data, but incidents abound: a patient once suffered convulsions after receiving diabetes medication instead of a painkiller, and a three-year-old girl died after being injected with the wrong drug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Push for Reform \u2014 But Problems Persist<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pharmacist Chilukuri Paramathama, who petitioned the Hyderabad High Court in 2014 following a child\u2019s death due to a misread prescription, helped push a 2016 Medical Council of India directive requiring prescriptions to be written legibly, preferably in capital letters. In 2020, the government empowered state medical authorities to discipline violators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet nearly a decade later, poorly written prescriptions remain common. Pharmacists like Ravindra Khandelwal of Kolkata\u2019s Dhanwantary pharmacy say many handwritten prescriptions remain difficult to interpret, particularly in rural and suburban areas, forcing staff to call doctors to verify details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Call for Urgent Change<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Experts agree that digitisation and stricter enforcement are crucial. The court\u2019s ruling underscores that clear communication is not a courtesy \u2014 it\u2019s a patient\u2019s right. As healthcare grows more complex, ensuring prescriptions are legible could mean the difference between effective treatment and a medical tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a landmark ruling, the Punjab and Haryana High Court declared that a legible medical prescription is a fundamental right, after reviewing a medico-legal report so incomprehensible it \u201cshook the conscience\u201d of the court. Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri directed the government to digitise prescriptions within two years and, until then, mandate that doctors write clearly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":1301066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1301058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHigh Court Orders Indian Doctors To Improve Handwriting - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/high-court-orders-indian-doctors-to-improve-handwriting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High Court Orders Indian Doctors To Improve Handwriting - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a landmark ruling, the Punjab and Haryana High Court declared that a legible medical prescription is a fundamental right, after reviewing a medico-legal report so incomprehensible it \u201cshook the conscience\u201d of the court. 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