Last Updated:January 18, 2026, 13:00 IST
Doctor prescriptions may look like a secret code, but pharmacists decode them daily. New rules now ensure prescriptions are clear, legible, and safe for patients.
Medicines often have multiple brand names, but their underlying scientific abbreviations remain consistent. Pharmacists rely on these clues to identify the correct formula, even when the prescription lists unfamiliar brand names.
Common ailments such as fever, headache, cold, or stomach problems further help pharmacists link unknown medicines to familiar treatments.
Even if a prescription contains five different medicines and the pharmacist recognises only three, they can deduce the remaining two by understanding the relationships among the medicines for a particular illness. If uncertain, they consult the customer to confirm the intended treatment.
Doctors’ illegible handwriting can result from natural penmanship, busy schedules, monotony, or, in some cases, business ties to specific pharmacies. To address this, the National Medical Commission issued new guidelines in December 2025 requiring medical colleges to teach students clear prescription writing.
Doctors are encouraged to write medicine names in capital letters to ensure patients’ rights to clear, understandable prescriptions under Article 21 of the Constitution.
In essence, while prescriptions may seem cryptic to patients, pharmacists’ expertise bridges the gap—and new regulations aim to make prescriptions clear and accessible for all.
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Patients trust doctors completely, handing over their health into their hands. Yet, the prescriptions doctors write often seem unreadable. Most people struggle to understand the medicine names, though they ask about dosage, timing, or whether to take pills before or after meals.
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