RE: of probable interest: 2,000,000 Florida residents support campaign to refuse their MDs' illegible prescriptions

  • From: "Steve" <pens-n-things@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <fptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'Christopher Jarman'" <quilljar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'Nan Jay Barchowsky'" <njbarch@xxxxxxx>, "'Barbara Getty'" <ellyfont@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'Dubay Inga'" <idubay@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'Alba M Scholz'" <scholza@xxxxxxx>, <handryting@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'zoss pens'" <pens@xxxxxxxx>, <4PENS@xxxxxxxx>, <Fountainpencollecting@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'Marie Picon'" <editor@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'Haley Beaudry'" <hbeaudry@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 14 May 2006 17:11:45 -0400

As more and more RXs go to the respective pharmacies electronically, no urging
of physicians to fix their handwriting is likely to work, the  will simply send
the script electronically. In fact, though my handwriting is quite good, I print
all my prescriptions to ensure that they are entered into the patient database
for future reference.

Steve 

-----Original Message-----
From: fptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:fptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Kate Gladstone
Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 10:51 AM
To: Christopher Jarman; Nan Jay Barchowsky; Barbara Getty; Dubay Inga; Alba M
Scholz; handryting@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; zoss pens; 4PENS@xxxxxxxx;
fptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; Fountainpencollecting@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; Marie Picon; Haley
Beaudry
Subject: of probable interest: 2,000,000 Florida residents support campaign to
refuse their MDs' illegible prescriptions

Of probable interest ...

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/editorial/sfl-editdlgoodwritingmay14,0,
5729805.story?coll=sfla-news-editorial

        
Good Medicine

South Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board Posted May 14 2006

ISSUE: Take the POP Pledge.

It's been a familiar butt of jokes -- the handwriting of the hurried physician's
prescription. Given the potential consequences of poor penmanship, though, the
joke may be on the unsuspecting patient.

A badly written prescription can be hazardous to your health. There are more
than 82 million prescriptions written every day, and roughly 500,000 of them are
wrong -- either in dosage or the drug itself.

Ideally, the problem could be solved if all medications were prescribed
electronically. But that's not practical at this point.
Fortunately, the Florida Health Care Coalition last week began what its leaders
call a "low-tech solution to a high-volume problem."

The Paul O'Neill Pledge, or POP, is a public-awareness campaign, complete with
bright red stickers and a sensible mantra for its
participants: "I won't accept a prescription if I can't read the writing."

The pledge is named after the former Secretary of the Treasury who is also a big
advocate of patient safety and medical reform. It encourages patients to urge
their physicians to write legible prescriptions, something that could
potentially save their lives.

Florida has a law that requires doctors to write legible prescriptions, but it's
not one that receives a lot of fanfare or prompts much enforcement. Physicians
still scribble, producing potentially fatal consequences. Imagine a patient
who's expecting Celebrex for arthritis pain but instead receives Celebyx, a drug
used to treat seizures, or Celexa, for depression.

The POP campaign serves as a potential boon for employers who are grappling with
ever increasing health-care costs. So far, the coalition has the support of
about 2 million Floridians and some of the state's largest employers, including
FPL Group Inc., Macy's, Publix Super Markets and various local and county
government agencies across the state.

For years, patient safety advocates have urged physicians to write more legibly
and reduce potential medical errors. The POP campaign should generate
reinforcements to help in this worthwhile cause.

BOTTOM LINE: The right Rx is to urge physicians to write legible prescriptions.

-- 


  Yours for better letters, Kate Gladstone - handwritingrepair@xxxxxxxxx -
telephone 518/482-6763
  Handwriting Repair and the World Handwriting Contest
  http://learn.to/handwrite, http://www.global2000.net/handwritingrepair
  325 South Manning Boulevard
  Albany, New York 12208-1731 USA
        Order books through my site!
  (Amazon.com link gets me 5% - 15% commission)
        And sign the "Politician Legibility Act" Petition:
http://www.iPetitions.com/petition/PoliticianLegibility
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