Doctors' Poor Handwriting Kills 7,000 and Injures 1.5 Million Annually
 

A National Academies of Science's Institute of Medicine report has revealed that in excess of 7,000 people are killed each year as a result of poor handwriting by doctors. A further 1.5 million are injured.

The main areas of risk are illegible writing, unclear abbreviations, and vague dosage directions. In response a free, web-based program will be launched to allow doctors to write electronic prescriptions and check for harmful drug interactions.

source: http://www.time.com

damn doctors... learn how to handwrite!!

damn that suxors. check your meds yo.

I wouldn't doubt it..I don't know how they can read my docs chicken scratch.The pharmacy always have to phone and ask wtf

Reading the title I thought you were talking about one guy lol

I've never gotten a prescription I could read... I swear the pharmacist guests half the time when they are too lazy to call it in.

I always thought it was some sort of secret code that only pharmacists could understand, but aparently not all of them can.

They scribble because they don't really know what the fuck to prescribe and hope the patient will complain about their illness to the pharmacist and he/she will prescribe the right stuff.

Good to know that there will be electronic prescriptions.

quik

make some kind of cheap digital tablet to solve this problem

you could be rich!

damn that's a lot....

PRINT that shit electronically, mofos. HIPAA should be amended to cover this situation.

In my area they print out the prescriptions. Looks like a standardised form used by the industry.

the apostraphe is important

never could figure out why us more intelligent humans have chicken-scratch for hand writing...

That's an amazing statistic!

a lot of dr's learn how to write like that in med school so they can argue in court....

uhm.. here in Tucson, AZ they already have an electronic system setup. I just go to the doctor and then to the pharmacy to pick my stuff up.

Soon everyone will be using keypads instead of pencils and pens.

yeah I think this is unforgivable, they need to make electronic prescribing compulsory. I actually did some ground-work for this type of business but getting something to market in the medical field is such a huge undertaking.

i'm safe, my doctor has a computer

Heh,i remember old joke which say"if you dont know how to write,become a doctor"