Legal issues in prescription writing: A study of two health institutions in Nigeria

Abstract Objectives This study examined the degree of deviation (from both World Health Organization (WHO) specifications and the particular institution's specifications) on the part of prescribers in adequately filling prescription forms and the legal implications of such deviations for the prescriber and the institution. Methods The study was carried out at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC) and Obafemi Awolowo University Health Centre, Ife-Ife, Nigeria. The Teaching Hospital is a 1000-bed tertiary health care facility that serves as a training centre for health professionals. The Health Centre is a 25-bed health care facility. A random sample of prescriptions received from the Pharmacy Department of the OAUTHC and the Obafemi Awolowo University Health Centre were analysed. Key findings For the Teaching Hospital, the prescriber's name and signature were on 80 and 96% of the prescriptions, respectively, whereas all prescriptions from the Health Centre contained this information. For the Teaching Hospital, 100, 1.8, 93.8 and 98.4% of prescriptions contained the patient's name, address and age, and the date, respectively, whereas 99.6, 86.4 and 99.9% of prescriptions from the Health Centre contained patient code number, age and the date respectively. The precentages of completely filled prescriptions for the Teaching Hospital and the Health Centre were 1.3 and 85.9% respectively. Prescription patterns for the major drug classes in both institutions were compared and related to the level of deviation from the ideal prescription-writing specifications of the WHO. Conclusions The legal implications of non-compliance with WHO standards in prescription writing are discussed, with appropriate recommendations.