Chandigarh: Medical schools should include handwriting lessons in their curriculum, so that doctors will issue clear and readable prescriptions, the Punjab and Haryana High Court held, according to Live Law.
The court observed that right to a legible prescription was part of the fundamental right to life enshrined in the Indian Constitution under Article 21.
The court of Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri said that the right to know the medical status of a human being is inseparably linked with the right to life. The judge also noted that ambiguity caused by bad handwriting could put lives at risk.
The court was hearing a case from Haryana, and it was unable to read the medico-legal report of a victim, Live Law reported.
According to The Indian Express, the court said that the matter shook its conscience as not even a word or a letter was legible. The court also expressed surprise and shock over government doctors relying on handwritten medical history and prescriptions, while the technology of the current era provides accessibility to computers.
“It shook the conscience of this court as not even a word or a letter was legible. 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 Indian Express quoted the court.
The court then instructed the National Medical Commission to integrate clear handwriting training into medical curricula. The court also said that all doctors must write medical notes in capital letters until digital prescriptions are universal.
Further, the court instructed the Union government to speed up the formulation of rules for hospitals and clinics under the Clinical Establishments Act. The rules should mandate keeping patient records electronically instead of only paper.