Write prescriptions in capital letters, AIIMS-P tells doctors

The All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Patna has asked its doctors to write prescriptions in capital letters. The instruction comes nearly a month after a patient complained that she suffered the paralytic stroke after she was handed over wrong medicine by the drug store on the AIIMS-P campus.

The 23-year old patient Juhi, a post graduate student, was diagnosed with malarial symptoms nearly a month back. She was prescribed a drug named Lumerax-80. Since the writing on the prescription was not legible, the drug store on the AIIMS-P campus gave her Luramax-80. This medicine is actually meant for those suffering from psychiatric disorders.

After consuming the wrong medicine, the patient complained of medical complications. On investigation, it was found that the drug store had inadvertently provided her wrong drug as the prescription was not properly legible.

The AIIMS administration has, meanwhile, issued a show-cause notice to the drug store. It has also instructed its doctors to henceforth write prescriptions only in capital letters. “The Central government rules mandates that prescriptions should be legible and written in capital letters. We have asked all the departments to strictly follow the rules,” said AIIMS-P medical superintendent Dr UK Bhadani.