By Akanksha Arora

Copyright timesnownews

If you have been struggling to decipher your doctor’s handwriting, then there is a good news for you. The Punjab and Haryana High Court have ordered their doctors to write better or go completely digital. Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri recently admitted that while examining a medico-legal report in a bail hearing, he could not understand a single word. His observation was blunt, “The conscience of the court was shaken by the fact that not a single word or letter in the report was legible.” As per the ruling, the High court of Punjab and Haryana has mandated on the urgent need for clear prescriptions and also that handwriting lessons should be incorporated into medical education. The government has also been directed to implement digital prescriptions within a time span of two years. Till then, all prescriptions must be written clearly in capital letter. This is being done to avoid confusion and potential health risks. The decision was made in association with “right to life” under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, as reported by BBC. How Was The Decision Made?During a bail plea for a rape case and fraud, Justice Puri did not find a single word of the prescription readable. He deemed the report “incomprehensible” and observed that the illegibility was a matter of deep concern. He further highlighter that the patients have a basic right to legible medical prescriptions. This is not the first time this issue has been raised. Previous court rulings in various Indian states have also expressed same concerns. In fact, there is an international research that links sloppy handwriting to some thousands of deaths each year, which could be prevented. For instance, a 1999 reports from the Institute of Medicine, US, revealed that poor handwriting led to 7,000 deaths annually. This is because it caused multiple medical errors. On the other hand, in Scotland, a patient suffered multiple chemical injuries after being given the wrong medication. The handwriting in the prescription caused some confusion. “At a time when technology and computers are easily accessible, it is shocking that government doctors are still writing prescriptions by hand which cannot be read by anybody except perhaps some chemists,” Justice Puri wrote, as quoted by BBC. “We have recommended to our members to follow the government guidelines and write prescriptions in bold letters that should be readable to both patients and chemists. A doctor who sees seven patients a day can do it, but if you see 70 patients a day, you can’t do it,” says Dr Dilip Bhanushali, president of Indian Medical Association, as reported by BBC.