Over half of medical prescriptions in Peshawar are illegible

PESHAWAR: Studies has revealed that 58.5 percent of medical prescriptions by doctors in Peshawar are illegible, difficult to read, and full of errors. 

A research article published in the Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences examined 1097 medical prescriptions in six major hospitals and pharmacies in Peshawar.

The study shows has no physician provided all the essesntial information in the prescription. The doctor’s name was also missing in 89 percent of prescriptions, while 98.2 percent did not have the registration number.

Over 78 percent did not have have diagnosis or indication mentioned, 63.8 percent prescription didn’t have the dosage, 55.4 percent had no duration for usage, 18.5 percent didn’t have the physician’s signature, while ten percent didn’t have the direction for taking drugs.

62 percent of the prescriptions recommended painkillers which leads to medical ethics and the cost of medicine.

The ministry of health Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is suggesting that medical prescriptions, rather than brand names of medicines, should be generic name-based quality drugs.

It has also recommended that a unified format should be adopted for prescription writing and record keeping in health system across the province.

Furthermore, the prescription of medicines should be minimum as consumption above the required dose makes the patient’s body immune. Illegible and incomplete prescriptions create further problems for poor patients.

According to international best practices and guidelines by the World Health Organisation, the medical prescription should be legibly printed or typed and should clearly have the name of the practitioner.,

The prescription should have name and strength of medication, quantity and dosage of the drug should written in both numbers and words, date and doctor’s signature should also be present and the prescription should be written in blank ink.