In an interesting development, the Orissa High Court has ordered the state government to mandate doctors to write prescriptions in readable handwriting or capital letters.
The court of Justice SK Panigrahi issued the order while hearing a case brought by Rasananda Bhoi of Hindol in the Dhenkanal district. The petition by Bhoi was filed on 25th September 2023. The plea concerned ex-gratia grant to Souvagya Ranjan Bhoi, the elder son of Rasanand, who had died from a snakebite.
Justice Panigrahi asked the chief secretary to send a circular to the state’s government and private medical institutes and hospitals requiring doctors to write the names of medications clearly or in capital letters in prescriptions. The court noted that it should be followed in the case of post-mortem reports as well.
Justice Panigrahi stated that the report written by Dr Biswaranjan Pati after carrying out the post-mortem on Souvagya is not readable. The Honourable Judge said that it cannot be understood in an ordinary course of reading unless the writer of the report himself, or a handwriting expert, is given the opportunity to examine such description.
“In many cases, the casual approach of most of the doctors while writing the post-mortem report is affecting the comprehension of medico-legal documents badly and the judicial system finds it very difficult to read those letters and come to a definite conclusion,” Justice Panigrahi stated.
“This Court directs the Chief Secretary, State of Odisha, to issue direction to all doctors of the state to write the post-mortem report and prescription in capital letters or in legible handwriting. Moreover, the tendency of writing such zigzag handwriting, which cannot be read by any common man or by judicial officers, has become a fashion among the doctors,” the Justice observed.
The High Court directed the chief secretary to send a circular to all medical centers, private clinics, medical colleges, and hospitals instructing them to write in good handwriting or printed form when prescribing drugs or submitting medico-legal reports.
The Court, meanwhile, also appreciated the services rendered by the medical professionals during COVID-19 or during emergencies. “This Court is also aware of the fact that the duty schedules of medical professionals are very busy and taxing, and finding time to comfortably write something often hinders their capacity to examine more and more patients within the stipulated time,” the Court remarked.
“It is generally felt that the medical prescription and medicolegal documents are written in bad handwriting which affects the quality of appreciation of evidence in the judicial system,” it added.
