In an age when most of the world has shifted to keyboards and digital records, the simple act of writing by hand still carries profound consequences in India’s healthcare system. Nowhere is this more evident than in the country’s hospitals and clinics, where the scrawl of a hurried doctor can mean the difference between life and death. Recent judicial pronouncements by the Punjab and Haryana High Court have drawn a firm line: clear medical prescriptions are not a courtesy ~ they are a fundamental right of patients.

This assertion is more than legal rhetoric. Across India, handwritten prescriptions remain the norm, particularly in government hospitals and rural clinics where digital infrastructure is weak. Doctors in these settings often see dozens, sometimes hundreds, of patients in a day. In such conditions, prescriptions are scribbled at speed, often indecipherable to anyone but the most seasoned pharmacists. The consequences of this........

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