As High Court moves to cure doctors’ ‘scrawl’, IMA president agrees to assist

Less than a month after the Punjab and Haryana High Court stepped in to prescribe a much-needed remedy for the doctors’ scrawl, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) president has agreed to assist the Bench in the matter. The PGIMER, too, has asked for a week to coordinate with the entire faculty “so that some positive formula can be devised to eradicate the difficulty.”

The Bench, on the previous date of hearing, had described the ailment as astounding and appalling in the era of computers. Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri had also sought the assistance of Advocates-General of Punjab and Haryana, along with UT senior standing counsel and the National Medical Commission (NMC), to lay down remedial measures. The court had also appointed advocate Tanu Bedi as amicus curiae in the matter.

As the matter came up for resumed hearing, Bedi told Justice Puri’s Bench that she had spoken to the IMA president. “He is ready and willing to assist this court on the serious issue by either physically appearing or by joining through videoconferencing,” she said.

The directions came in a case where the court found the handwriting in a medico-legal report to be absolutely illegible and incomprehensible. “It is very surprising and shocking to note that in this era of computers, the notes on the medical history and on the prescriptions by the government doctors are written by hand which cannot be read by anybody except perhaps some doctors. This court has also seen in a number of cases where even the medical prescription is written in such a handwriting which nobody can read except perhaps some chemists,” Justice Puri had observed.

A petition in the matter was filed against the State of Haryana through advocate Aditya Sanghi. But the court noted that his was not an isolated incident but a systemic issue prevalent in the State of Punjab and “probably in UT Chandigarh as well”. As such, the court was of the view that Punjab and Chandigarh should also assist the Bench in the matter.

Justice Puri asserted that the right to know one’s medical status was intrinsically linked to the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. “It will not be out of place to even note that the right to know the medical status of a human being can also be considered as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Health and the treatment given to a human being is a part of life and therefore, it may be considered as part of right to life,” the court asserted.