FDA's Prescription Guideline Forces Doctors to Write More Legibly

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has directed all doctors practicing in Maharashtra to follow the new prescription guidelines put in place by the state Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).

According to the new guidelines, doctors should furnish a complete detailed prescription by writing legibly in capital letters to ensure there is no chance of wrong medicine/treatment being given leading to patient's death.

"As of now, we are doing this initiative only for Maharashtra. It's difficult to write legibly with patient's complete details when one is dealing with nearly 100 patients daily, but it needs to be done for their benefit. We will make all our members understand the format and why it's important," said Dr Anil Pachekar, chairmen, IMA, state action committee.

Purushottam Bhapkar, FDA commissioner, said, "Chemists have been instructed to not give medicines without a proper prescription. As for medicos, we can't force them to follow the format, just suggest that they do."

Sources said that IMA would organise a special workshop for new doctors in the state to train them in writing legible prescriptions and giving proper dosage for specific diseases.

The new prescription format includes doctor's full name, his/her qualification, patient's details, name of the generic medicine or its equivalent along with the dosage, strength, dosage form and instruction, name and address of medical store with pharmacist's name and date of dispensing, and doctor's signature and stamp.

The format has been ready for six months now, but a very few doctors in the state are following it.

"This is a good initiative by IMA. Every doctor has to follow it anyway as most of the format guidelines are as per the Medical Council of India," said Dr Shivkumar Utture, member, Maharashtra Medical Council.



Source: Medindia