Indian Court Tells Doctors To Fix Their Handwriting (bbc.com)
(Wednesday October 01, 2025 @05:20PM (msmash)
from the handwriting-on-the-wall dept.)
- Reference: 0179615540
- News link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/10/01/1530239/indian-court-tells-doctors-to-fix-their-handwriting
- Source link: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0r88nrx70o
A high court in India has ruled that [1]legible medical prescriptions are a fundamental right after a judge found a government doctor's report completely incomprehensible. Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri of the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued the order while reviewing a bail petition in an unrelated criminal case. The medico-legal report examining an alleged assault victim was written in handwriting that the judge said left not even a single word or letter legible.
The court directed India's government to add handwriting instruction to medical school curriculum and mandated a two-year timeline for rolling out digital prescriptions nationwide. Until electronic systems are implemented, all doctors must write prescriptions in capital letters. The Indian Medical Association, representing over 330,000 physicians, told BBC it would help address the issue. Association president Dr Dilip Bhanushali said doctors in Indian cities have largely adopted digital prescriptions but practitioners in rural areas and small towns continue using handwritten notes.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0r88nrx70o
The court directed India's government to add handwriting instruction to medical school curriculum and mandated a two-year timeline for rolling out digital prescriptions nationwide. Until electronic systems are implemented, all doctors must write prescriptions in capital letters. The Indian Medical Association, representing over 330,000 physicians, told BBC it would help address the issue. Association president Dr Dilip Bhanushali said doctors in Indian cities have largely adopted digital prescriptions but practitioners in rural areas and small towns continue using handwritten notes.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0r88nrx70o
Latin, abbreviations (Score:2)
by michael_cain ( 66650 )
Did they also ban the use of Latin, abbreviations, and Latin abbreviations?
Re: (Score:2)
by cusco ( 717999 )
What do they call the guy who barely scraped by and graduated dead last in Med school?
Doctor
'not even a single word or letter legible' (Score:3)
by Fly Swatter ( 30498 )
Sounds like cause for revoking their medical license. Usable medical reports are kind of important.
- Even ducks know how to Quack.
Same as in Italy (Score:2)
by giampy ( 592646 )
My theory is they write too much prescriptions so they just they've lost all the patience for that and they scribble away something as fast as they possibly can :)
Next news... (Score:2)
Indiana court fully agrees and wants Indiana doctors to use legible handwriting.
Re: (Score:3)
Your doctor actually writes anything? In my experience, in the US, everything is entered directly into a computer system. All my prescriptions are sent electronically to the pharmacy, and my records are available electronically on the doctor's website.
Re: Next news... (Score:2)
> In my experience, in the US, everything is entered directly into a computer system. All my prescriptions are sent electronically to the pharmacy, and my records are available electronically on the doctor's website.
> Association president Dr Dilip Bhanushali said doctors in Indian cities have largely adopted digital prescriptions but practitioners in rural areas and small towns continue using handwritten notes.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, but the person I was replying to referenced Indiana which was in the US that last time I looked.