New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: It has been almost three months since the Orissa High Court directed the state government to issue circular asking the doctors to prescribe medicines only in capital letters for better legibility. However, the state government still has not released any such circular.
While several doctors write legible prescriptions, many continue to pen those in a manner which is found hard to be deciphered by the patients, pharmacists, police and courts in medico-legal cases. When contacted for response, senior bureaucrats in concerned departments feigned ignorance on the matter and ‘promised’ to look into it. “We will check the court order and take necessary steps accordingly,” a senior official from the state Health and Family Welfare department said.
Doctors and their associations on the other side said that they are ‘likely’ to comply with the HC order and other such previous orders by national bodies like the Medical Council of India (MCI).
“It is true that many are not writing the prescriptions in capital letters. Instructions have been passed regarding the same from the MCI as well as the Orissa HC. We as doctors don’t have any problem with that and most of us and our associations are in favour of that. In the upcoming days, such trend will be followed,” Dr Braj Kishore Dash, Honorary Secretary, India Medical Association (IMA), Odisha Chapter told Orissa POST.
He added that the Health department has communicated the instructions from the Orissa HC to the concerned Chief District Medical Officers (CDMO) for compliance and the new system would soon see light of the day.
Kuldeep Singh & Manish Kumar, OP
