Don’t be surprised if you now come across any prescription with legible handwriting as the Odisha government has issued necessary directions to doctors in this regard.
As per the latest directive, the state government has now asked doctors in the state to write post-mortem reports, prescriptions, and medico-legal reports in capital letters or legible handwriting or typed form only so that their handwriting doesn't create any confusion.
This comes in the recent Orissa High Court direction. The Court had recently observed that in many cases the casual approach of most of the doctors while writing post-mortem reports 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.
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“The tendency of writing such zig-zag handwriting, which cannot be read by any common man or judicial officers, has become a fashion among the doctors of the state. A substantial number of doctors in the state resort to such handwriting which cannot be read by any ordinary person,” the Court observed while directing the Chief Secretary to issue circulars to all the medical centers, private clinics and medical colleges.
Subsequently, the Odisha government has directed all registered medical practitioners, medical officers, peripheral health care facilities, medical college hospitals, private clinics, and private medical colleges to write prescriptions in proper legible handwriting or in typed form.
Similarly, the medico-legal reports and post-mortem reports are to be written either in capital or in a typed form or in good legible handwriting to ensure appreciation of evidence in the juridical system and to be uploaded in MLOS.