In a groundbreaking ruling, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana in India has declared that legible medical prescriptions are part of the fundamental right to health, linking clear handwriting to patient safety and constitutional protection. The court’s decision, issued in September, requires all doctors to write prescriptions in uppercase letters until the nation fully transitions to digital prescriptions, according to Paris Match and the BBC.
The ruling came after Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri encountered a completely illegible medico-legal report, which he described as “impossible to read or use as evidence.” The court concluded that unclear handwriting can endanger lives and therefore violates citizens’ basic rights. Medical schools are now mandated to teach proper medical handwriting, and the government has two years to implement a nationwide e-prescription system.
While India’s major cities are already moving toward digital healthcare, the decision could be transformative for rural hospitals, where handwritten prescriptions remain the norm. The Indian Medical Association, representing more than 330,000 doctors, expressed support for the change but warned of the practical difficulties faced by overworked physicians in public hospitals.
Globally, the issue is not new — the U.S. Institute of Medicine attributes about 7,000 deaths each year to prescription errors caused by illegible handwriting. By framing prescription clarity as a constitutional matter, India’s judiciary may have set a precedent with global implications, redefining legibility not just as good practice, but as a human right.