NMC asks colleges to set up panels to track prescription practices

NMC has asked medical colleges to set up sub-committees to monitor prescription practices and stress clear, legible handwriting as part of medical training.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has instructed medical colleges across India to constitute sub-committees aimed at rigorously monitoring prescription practices and reinforcing the crucial role of clear handwriting in medical documentation.

 

According to a directive issued by the Post Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB), the institutes have also been asked to include the importance of legible and clear handwriting in medical prescriptions as part of the curriculum.

 

The sub-committees are to be placed under the Drugs and Therapeutics Committees (DTC) in every medical college. These will develop structural plans for systemic appraisal of prescriptions to assess compliance, analyse patterns to identify deviations and recommend corrective measures to improve adherence. 

 

The DTC is a multidisciplinary group that oversees medicine use, develops drug policies, and promotes safe, rational prescribing to improve patient care and control costs in healthcare facilities such as hospitals and medical colleges.

 

The directive dated December 15 comes after an order issued on August 27, 2025, by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the matter of Yogesh vs State of Haryana.

 

The court had then emphasised the constitutional implications of clear medical records, noting that a legible medical prescription or document is an essential component of the right to health under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

 

The NMC notice added that every physician should prescribe drugs with generic names legibly and preferably in capital letters, and he or she shall ensure rational prescription and use of drugs.

 

All institutions have been instructed to constitute the sub-committees immediately and to operationalise the prescribed monitoring mechanisms without delay.