It is impossible to generalize: in the medical field, as in any other, there are those who have scribbles and those who write well. Still, there are theories about the origin of the myth. One says that, in the old days, when pharmaceutical laboratories did not exist, doctors made prescriptions that only apothecaries could decipher. Thus, they prevented the patient from taking risks by making his own medicine. Another claims that rushing to take notes for college classes would cause bad handwriting. A third is that, in the past, most doctors were men – and they would usually have worse handwriting than women. In Brazil, a federal law, an ordinance of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) and the Code of Medical Ethics require that prescriptions must be legible. If you feel aggrieved, report it to the Regional Council of Medicine.
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– Why do doctors wear white clothes?
– The bloody history of medicine.
CONSULTANCY José Fernando Vinagre, corregidor of the Federal Council of Medicine, and Liane Pereira, graphologist and graphotechnical expert for the National Council of Judicial Experts of Brazil SOURCES Code of Medical Ethics, Law 5.991/73 and Anvisa Ordinance 344/98 IMAGE Dr Rogerio Darwich