Prescription in ALL CAPS: Medical fraternity gets the chill

While MCI had approved a draft for doctors to prescribe drugs in capital letters, the then state Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Mahesh Zagade had chaired a committee to formulate a model prescription format. The committee included representatives of the Indian Medical Association, Maharashtra Medical Council, Maharashtra Veterinary Council, Maharashtra Dental Council, Indian pharmaceutical association and others.

“After long deliberations, a consensus had emerged on the ‘model medicine prescription format’ and Zagade had distributed copies to heads of various medical associations in April itself,” B R Masaal, Joint FDA Commissioner (Drugs) said. The aim was to ensure that prescription is legibly written so that the pharmacist can give the right medicines.

Similarities in some brand names of drugs can be confusing and a minor mistake in the legibility on a prescription by a doctor or a careless reading by the pharmacist can cause serious harm to patients.

Masaal said lakhs of copies of the model format had been printed and claimed there had been no positive response from the medical associations. “Now we are planning to give these prints to the chemists across the city so that they can distribute it to doctors in their area,” Masaal said.

The model medicine prescription format calls for details regarding the doctor and his/her address and qualification along with the serial number of the prescription, date when it was written, the patient’s full name, phone number and address, name of medicine (generic), its dosage form, strength and duration of drug to be taken. The name of the drug has be written in capital letters. The name and address of the medical store that offers the drug also has be specified, Masaal said.

The MCI took such a decision after receiving several complaints on drugs with similar names being misread. For instance, drugs like Celin (vitamin C) and Celib (Celecoxib for arthritis) Erox – Amoxicillin (an antibiotic) and Erix – Sidenafil citrate – (drug for sexual dysfunction) among others have similarities in the brand name. Even a single letter change can lead to medical errors. A large number of doctors still use the written prescriptions and hence writing in capital letters is a better option.

When contacted, Dr Dilip Sarda, state chief of Indian Medical Association, said their members had welcomed the move but had also suggested changes like either writing the patient’s mobile number or email instead of the address. “Barely five per cent of the doctors are writing on the new format. We have also asked for change in the size of the paper as a 14X21 cm size would be too big for a single tablet,”Sarda said.

Dr Sanjay Gawhane, member of the central body of National Integrated Medical Association (NIMA), said they had not received copies of the format.

Dr Vivek Billampelly, executive committee member of the General Practitioners Association, too said they were yet to receive the copies of the format.

Anil Belkar, Secretary of the Maharashtra State Druggists Association (Western zone), said they had not received prescriptions in the new format.