Illegible Handwriting Research Articles

A scoping review on the errors in medical certification of the cause of death in India.

Medical certification of the cause of death provides epidemiological information for developing cause-specific mortality and disease trends, guiding the monitoring of health programmes and allocating health resources. Therefore, providing correct information on the cause of death is essential. This study describes the errors in medical certification of the cause of death in India. We conducted a scoping review through a systematic inquiry in four databases, PubMed, ProQuest, Google Scholar and EBSCO, for all published articles reporting errors in medical certification of cause of death in India between December 31, 1998 and December 31, 2020. The review outcomes were the proportion of major and minor certification errors reported. Out of 135 screened studies, 20 were included based on the eligibility criteria. We observed a high proportion of certification errors and a large proportion of variation. Major certification errors were in the form of incorrect underlying cause of death (8.5-99.2%) and incorrect chain of events leading to death (12-64.7%). Minor certification errors in the form of missing clerical details, abbreviations and illegible handwriting were 0.3-100 per cent. The proportion of incomplete death certificates ranged between 12-100 per cent. Absence of time intervals was the most common type of certification error (62.3-99.5%). Training of doctors to accurately certify the medical cause of death and its addition to medical education is urgently needed to ensure accurate information for mortality-related statistics. A uniform methodology for auditing and reporting errors in medical certification of cause of death should be adopted.

Recognition of Chinese Electronic Medical Records for Rehabilitation Robots: Information Fusion Classification Strategy.

Named entity recognition is a critical task in the electronic medical record management system for rehabilitation robots. Handwritten documents often contain spelling errors and illegible handwriting, and healthcare professionals frequently use different terminologies. These issues adversely affect the robot's judgment and precise operations. Additionally, the same entity can have different meanings in various contexts, leading to category inconsistencies, which further increase the system's complexity. To address these challenges, a novel medical entity recognition algorithm for Chinese electronic medical records is developed to enhance the processing and understanding capabilities of rehabilitation robots for patient data. This algorithm is based on a fusion classification strategy. Specifically, a preprocessing strategy is proposed according to clinical medical knowledge, which includes redefining entities, removing outliers, and eliminating invalid characters. Subsequently, a medical entity recognition model is developed to identify Chinese electronic medical records, thereby enhancing the data analysis capabilities of rehabilitation robots. To extract semantic information, the ALBERT network is utilized, and BILSTM and MHA networks are combined to capture the dependency relationships between words, overcoming the problem of different meanings for the same entity in different contexts. The CRF network is employed to determine the boundaries of different entities. The research results indicate that the proposed model significantly enhances the recognition accuracy of electronic medical texts by rehabilitation robots, particularly in accurately identifying entities and handling terminology diversity and contextual differences. This model effectively addresses the key challenges faced by rehabilitation robots in processing Chinese electronic medical texts, and holds important theoretical and practical value.

Pattern of Answer Script Presentation Errors: Teacher and Student Perspectives.

Background Answer script presentation is an effective means of conveying knowledge and understanding. It reflects clarity of thought and organization, which can positively influence scoring. Additionally, well-structured answers reduce the chances of misinterpretation, ensuring that your knowledge is accurately assessed. Despite its importance, there is limited research focusing on the specific errors students make in presenting their answers. Hence, this study explored common errors in answer script presentation from the perspectives of both teachers and students. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 240 students and 50 teachers in July 2024at Mata Gujri Memorial Medical College, Bihar, India. A questionnaire wasdeveloped by a three-member panel of experts in education and assessment to ensure it was comprehensive and relevant to the study's objectives. The questionnaire comprised 12 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale where a higher score indicates higher perceptions of the error. Data were collected from teachers and students using the pre-tested self-administered printed questionnaire. The scores among the different perceived errors were compared by ANOVA and the scores between teachers and students were compared by unpaired t-test. Results Students perceived that their highest error was inconsistent handwriting (2.72±1.4), followed by incomplete diagrams (2.52±1.2) and disorganization (2.47±1.17). The error perceived to be least important was incorrect numbering (1.53±0.97), F=12.49, p-value<0.0001. Teachers perceived the error in illegible handwriting (4.36±0.48), followed by lack of emphasis (4.16±0.62) and disorganization (3.94±0.91) as the errors most likely to contribute to poor performance. The error perceived to be least important was inconsistent handwriting (2.4±1.01), F=18.22, p-value<0.0001. When the data were compared between teachers and students, except for inconsistent handwriting, the perceived error score by teachers was higher than the students perceived. Conclusion There was a significant disparity between students' and teachers' perceptions of common presentation errors, with teachers consistently rating the severity of errors higher than students. Both groups identified inconsistent handwritingas a prominent error. Thisunderscores the need for better alignment and communication between students and educators regarding the importance of specific aspects of written presentation in assessments.

Transcribing Handwritten Medical Prescription using Convolutional Neural Network AlexNet Architecture and Canny Edge Detection

Misinterpreted medical prescriptions had led to casualties due to the illegible cursive handwriting of medical practitioners. Many studies focused on this problem. However, the accuracy was unsatisfactory and needed improvement. The study evaluated the performance of the Canny edge detection with other preprocessing methods, including RGB to Grayscale Conversion, Binarization, and Inversion, which was used to process the images of cursive handwritten medical prescriptions using Alexnet Convolutional Recurrent Neural Network (ACoRNN). The CRNN model developed by previous researchers was used as the basis for comparison, and the researchers created a faster and more accurate model. The best combination of preprocessing methods for ACoRNN was with RGB to Grayscale Conversion, Binarization, Canny edge detection, and Inversion. The researchers’ model had faster preprocessing and testing time and achieved 90.76% average accuracy through five trials.

Rejection of Fecal Immunochemical Tests Within the Lower Gastrointestinal Diagnostic Pathway: A Cohort Study.

The fecal immunochemical test (FIT) helps triage primary care patients at risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). Improving FIT returns has received recent attention, however uncertainty exists regarding the accurate completion of samples provided for laboratory analysis. This study aims to identify the rejection rate of returned FIT samples and determine rejection causes. FIT samples from symptomatic patients within South Yorkshire, Bassetlaw, and North Derbyshire are processed at a central laboratory. Tests requests are made from 225 GP practices, which serve an estimated 2 million population. This study describes a retrospective review of FIT samples received in the central laboratory between 01/09/19 and 31/12/22. Locally held data was interrogated in March 2023 to determine the number of FIT samples received and rejected during the study period. Documented reasons for rejection were explored to identify common themes. Total FIT specimens received during the study period was 126 422. Of these, 5190 (4.1%) were rejected. Monthly rejection rates fell from 17.4% in September 2019 to 1.3% in December 2022 (P < .001). Sampling errors were the most frequent cause for FIT rejection (2151/5190), with other causes including: expired specimen; no sample collection date/ time, no request form, incomplete patient information and illegible handwriting. This is the first study exploring FIT rejection rates in symptomatic primary care patients, which shows improvements in rejection rates over time. Targeted interventions could improve rejection rates further, thereby reducing NHS resource use and costs and diagnostic delays.

Medication Errors: An Update From the Central Region of Ghana

Objective: The study assessed the following medication error indicators: drug education by pharmacists, the clarity of physician prescription forms, patients’ and students’ drug package insert (PI) reading habits, and the adequacy of information on drug PIs.Design: A cross‐sectional study was carried out. One‐on‐one interviews were conducted with the pharmacists alongside the use of structured questionnaires to assess their involvement in drug education and experience with the clarity of physician prescription forms. A structured questionnaire was used to investigate patients’ and students’ PI reading habits. Drug PIs were collected from pharmacies, and their components were examined based on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) criteria for labeling pharmaceutical products.Setting: The study was conducted at four selected hospital pharmacies, four community pharmacies, and the University of Cape Coast, in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana.Participants: The study included pharmacists working at the pharmacies, patients, and students of the University of Cape Coast, who visited any of these pharmacies.Results: Fifty‐three percent of pharmacists educate their patients on drug dosage, storage, and precautions during each patient visit, 17.6% hardly do, and 29.4% do not educate their patients. A majority of the sampled prescription forms submitted by patients to the pharmacists had illegible handwriting (63.7%) and unconventional prescription notations (78.0%). Of the 138 visiting patients, only a few (41.0%) read the PIs before drug use as compared to students (72.9%). Out of the 88 PIs collected, 90.2% had component deficiencies.Conclusion: Pharmacists’ drug education to visiting patients was poor, just as patients’ PI reading habits. Most PIs had component deficiencies, and the majority of prescription forms had some medication error‐provoking features. Going forward, pharmacists, physicians, drug manufacturers, and patients must perform their responsibilities toward the collective effort of minimizing medication errors associated with drug use.

Incidences and classification of medication errors - a case study

Background. The Medication errors (MEs) affect severely ill health or death and have a substantial financial effect on the patient and health care organization. The present study aims to detect the incidences and classify MEs and increase the patient safety medication of Super Specialty Hospital, Kolkata. Materials and Methods. The prospective observational study of patient prescriptions, transcription, indenting, dispensing, and administration were followed up daily to identify the medication errors in 400+ beds across each admitted inpatient department (IPD) patients file from June 2019 to July 2019 at a Super Specialty Hospital, Kolkata. Results. A total of 395 prescriptions were reviewed in the present study. A total of 29.36% of medication errors have been reported. In June 2019, MEs occurrence rate was 44.85%. The most common MEs were found in Transcription errors (TEs) (77.72%), followed by Administration errors (AEs) (55.44%), Prescription errors (PEs) (55.18%), Dispensing errors (DEs) (31.89%), and Indenting errors (IEs) (4.05%). In comparison, 13.87% of medication errors occurred in July 2019, four times less than in June 2019, with 28.10% in PEs, followed by TEs at 24.05%, AEs at 9.11%, DEs at 8.10% and 0% in IEs. Conclusion. This study revealed that MEs occurred from the common mistake of illegible handwriting, which causes many problems while transcribing and indenting medicine by chemists and nurses while cross-checking the patient file documentation with a medicine card. Further study is needed to determine the factors governing MEs low reporting.

DOCUMENT TRANSLATION FOR CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS ASSISTING UKRAINIAN REFUGEES: CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES

The Russian-Ukrainian war displaced millions of Ukrainians many of whom now rely on international and local organizations in their host countries for help with daily problems of integration. One such aspect of charitable work is providing translation services. This article analyses the challenges and strategies of English, Ukrainian, and Russian document translation for charitable organizations assisting Ukrainian refugees. Drawing on professional experience of collaboration with a charitable organization, the author discusses communication that ensures efficient management of translation projects, outlines the certification procedure that confirms the translator’s responsibility for the accuracy of translation, and examines the types of documents that Ukrainian refugees commonly need to have translated. The author describes in detail the formatting of the translated documents that is required to make them accessible and easily comprehensible. The article delves into the challenges that the translator is faced with when working with the documents of Ukrainian refugees, focusing on such issues as illegible handwriting and stamps, the low quality of the images of the original documents, typographical errors, abbreviations and terms, formatting intricacies, temporal limitations, and confidentiality. Analysing the process of proofreading that improves the quality of translation, the author argues that translation is a social activity that requires collaboration between the translator, fellow professionals, legal experts, clients, local actors and stakeholders. Finally, this article explores the tools and strategies that enable translators to work consistently and efficiently. It examines how the translator can use machine translators, online corpus dictionaries, document translation templates, guidelines, and other aids to provide reliable, timely, accurate, and helpful translation services to Ukrainian refugees.&#x0D;

PGR - 2 Demons In The Mirrors: A Childhood Case Report of 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome First Addressed By Tele-Neuropsychological Evaluation During The COVID-19 Lockdown.

22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS) results in physical, cognitive, and behavioral issues. Although it is the most common microdeletion syndrome, there remains a high prevalence of delayed diagnosis. Its heterogeneous phenotypic presentation lead to differing considerations for early diagnostic identification. If initial symptomatology includes behavioral and cognitive disturbance, it is likely for such individuals to be referred first for neuropsychological testing before genetic testing. This case will expand upon diagnostic identification of 22q11DS. A 12-year-old, 5-years educated, white female was seen for tele-neuropsychological evaluation due to COVID-19 restrictions in December 2020. Patient's mother reported concern regarding sudden and worsening behavioral changes including hallucinations, unusual affects, odd beliefs, academic decline, illegible handwriting, attention and memory issues, and behavioral problems in school to the point of removal. Overall performance on the Meyers Neuropsychological Battery was severely impaired. See uploaded image file for specific test findings. Speech, affect, and behavior were notable during examination. Diagnoses included schizophrenia (provisional) and specific learning disorder with reading impairment (historical). Immediate neurology consultation was recommended. Later EEG, brain MRI, and CSF were unremarkable. Acute metabolic etiology was ruled out. Subsequent genetic testing revealed 22q11DS. Diagnostic identification of 22q11DS and resulting access to care management heavily depends on initial symptom presentation. In this specific case, the COVID-19 lockdown created barrier to sufficient services. This case expands upon knowledge of the cognitive profile of 22q11DS and calls upon increased awareness. Targeted improvement of neurocognition potentially protects against cognitive decline related to psychotic symptoms, and thus neuropsychologists play a vital role in referral to such resources.

SP3.10 Improvement of quality of operation notes. An audit was performed to assess operation notes in our hospital, detected multiple points commonly missed in the operation notes as well as illegibility of some. Implementation of electronic operation notes took place to improve service

Abstract Aim An audit was performed in November 2021 to assess completion of operation notes according to national guidelines. Methods 18 points were checked in accordance to Royal college of Surgeons guidelines. Results Percentage of completion ranged from 47% to 77% according to sub-specialty. Main points that were missed were time of operation, bloods loss and antibiotic prophylaxis. 29% of notes had illegible hand-writing which could not be read appropriately by two or more people. Electronic operation notes have been identified as the ideal plan to help avoid illegibility and to make sure all points are present. Multidisciplinary approach was done to implement electronic typed operation notes in the hospital involving surgical team, management, theatre staff and information technology (IT) specialist. This took place by providing extra computers in both elective and emergency theatres with appropriate software to allow for typed operation notes. Operation note templates were used to ensure all points are filled. Significant improvement in the operation notes was noticed once electronic notes have been used. The percentage of electronic notes went up from 9% to 34% in January 2023, legibility increased from 71% to 96%, time of operation documentation increased from 0% to 22%. There was 100% compliance each of the following; name of surgeons, mode of surgery, date of operation, operative procedure, operative findings and closure technique. Overall completion rate of operation notes improved from 72% to 82%. Conclusion it is inevitable that technology can be used to eliminate human error, provide clear documentation and create traceable information.

The baronet’s nephew Willie: materials from the collection of the library of the Military Medical Academy

The purpose of the article is to introduce into scientific circulation little-known handwritten materials from the library of the Military Medical Academy, containing additions to the facts of the biography, personal characteristics and close circle of the President of the Medical-Surgical Academy, the life physician of the three emperors, Baronet Yakov Vasilyevich Willie. The article presents the historical details of the transfer of the personal archive of the Willie and Ruhl families to the library of the Military Medical Academy by a descendant of famous doctors, a talented artist Mikhail Yakovlevich Willie. Fragments of the correspondence of Willies nephew the full namesake and also the life physician Yakov Vasilyevich Willie Jr. (or 2nd) with Scottish relatives and friends are given, in which, in particular, the features of medical education in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century are revealed. Handwritten in English in an illegible handwriting, the letters of young Willie lay in the manuscript fund for almost 100 years before, thanks to the efforts of the bibliographer Galina Mikhailovna Roslik, they were attracted to the attention of specialists who could read and translate them. The article also describes the details of the career and personal fate of the Scottish doctor Ya.V. Willie II in the Russian service, under Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich. The topic of the unprecedented testament of Baronet Willie on the transfer of the entire inheritance for the construction of a civil hospital in memory of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich is touched upon.

Assessment Challenges Encountered by Teachers in the Implementation of Printed Modular Distance Learning

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about unprecedented challenges in the field of education. Printed Modular Distance Learning (PMDL) was one of the most challenging modes of instruction in basic education, and the assessment stage posed specific difficulties for secondary school teachers in the Schools Division of Puerto Princesa City during the School Year 2020-2021. This research aimed to explore the real-life experiences of 15 secondary school teachers who taught via PMDL. Using a phenomenological study, the researcher conducted individual interviews with the teachers, who were chosen through purposive sampling. The study found that teachers encountered various challenges during the implementation of PMDL, with specific difficulties arising during the assessment stage. One of the significant problems reported by the participants was the submission of unanswered or incomplete modules by some students. Additionally, some learners had modules that were answered by their parents or other family members, while others copied answers directly from the internet or answer keys. The lack of names on modules and illegible handwriting also added to the challenges experienced by the teachers. Furthermore, the sheer volume of modules to be checked was a significant challenge for the participants. To ensure the quality and validity of module-based assessments, it is recommended that guidelines be provided to learners, monitoring and feedback mechanisms be put in place, and policies that prevent cheating be implemented. Educators should also have workload management strategies to ensure timely grading and feedback.

Incidence of "&lt;em&gt;Caterpillar hump&lt;/em&gt;" of right hepatic artery in the "&lt;em&gt;Calot triangle&lt;/em&gt;" among a selected population in Sri Lanka. A chart review

Introduction: "Caterpillar hump" of the right hepatic artery in the triangle of Calot, is a rare variation that increases the risk of vascular and biliary injuries during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This study aims to determine the prevalence of right hepatic artery forming "Caterpillar hump" in a selected cohort of patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy in a private hospital in Sri Lanka.Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted to determine the prevalence of "Caterpillar hump" of the right hepatic artery among patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for symptomatic cholelithiasis in a private hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 2015 to 2022. Data were retrieved from the available records at hospitals from 2015 to 2022. There were 79 patients recode during the study period. These records consist of manually written bed head charts, discharge summaries and electronic medical records. Patient records which did not clearly mention the Calot triangle vasculature or illegible handwriting were excluded from the study. Out of that, only 75 [94.9%] patients' charts were eligible for the study. Data on demographic and Calot triangle vasculature was recorded during surgery and retrieved from the hospital records. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the hospital's ethical committee.Results: Among the patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy, 50 (66.7%) were female, and 25(33.3%) were male patients, with a mean (±SD) age of 57.4±4.8 years (range 18–81). The prevalence of the "Caterpillar hump" right hepatic artery in the calot's triangle among the study sample was 4 % ( 3/75). Two were females and one male. In all cases, the vascular variation was reported in a single-loop fashion, and no double-loop configuration was noted.Conclusions: This study showed that the right hepatic artery was subjected to this rare anatomical variation. This anomalous presentation increased the risk of vessel ligation or injury during laparoscopic Cholecystectomy. Thus, the awareness of caterpillar hump within Calot triangle, during surgical procedures is useful.

Quality of death certificates completion for COVID-19 cases in the southeast of Iran: A cross-sectional study.

Background and AimDeath certificate (DC) data provides a basis for public health policies and statistics and contributes to the evaluation of a pandemic's evolution. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of the COVID‐19‐related DC completion.MethodsA descriptive‐analytical study was conducted to review a total of 339 medical records and DCs issued for COVID‐19 cases from February 20 to September 21, 2020. A univariate analysis (χ 2 as an unadjusted analysis) was performed, and multiple logistic regression models (odd ratio [OR] and 95% confidence interval [CI] as adjusted analyses) were used to evaluate the associations between variables.ResultsErrors in DCs were classified as major and minor. All of the 339 examined DCs were erroneous; more than half of DCs (57.8%) had at least one major error; all of them had at least one minor error. Improper sequencing (49.3%), unacceptable underlying causes of death (UCOD) (33.3%), recording more than one cause per line (20.1%), listing general conditions instead of specific terms (11.2%), illegible handwriting (8.3%), competing causes (6.2%), and mechanisms (3.8%) were most common major errors, respectively. Absence of time interval (100%), listing mechanism allying with UCOD (51.6%), using abbreviations (45.4%), missing major comorbidities (16.5%), and listing major comorbidities in part I (16.5%) were most common minor errors, respectively.ConclusionThe rate of both major and minor errors was high. Using automated tools for recording and selecting death cause(s), promoting certifiers' skills on DC completion, and applying quality control mechanisms in DC documentation can improve death data and statistics.

A Review of Investigating Causes of Medication Errors among Nurses of Emergency and Intensive Care Unit

Introduction: Medication errors are common in the emergency department and intensive care units, but they can be reduced with a series of appropriate planning. The study goal was to investigate the causes and extent of medication errors among the emergency and intensive care unit nurses.&#x0D; Material and Methods: This study was done as a review. In the present study, the studies were searched in Persian and English language databases such as SID, Magiran, Iran medex, Scopus and PubMed with the keywords such as medication error, nurses, emergency department, intensive care unit, nurse department, wrong medication, emergency nurse, and special department were searched in databases. The inclusion criteria were the articles dealing with the medication errors among the ICU nurses and the emergency departments. In order to review the present study articles, the year limit from 2014-2022 were applied. The exclusion criteria were the review articles.&#x0D; Results: The results showed that overwork, fatigue, deficiency of staff, illegible instructions, insufficient knowledge, physicians’ illegible handwriting, and night shifts, similar classification of drugs have been the causes of medication errors among the nurses.&#x0D; Conclusion: According to the findings of the study, it is suggested to hold re-training classes periodically and to have the number of staff proportionate to the needs of the department so that imposing too much workload on staff is avoided.

The Salamanca Diaries: La perspectiva de Alexander McCabe sobre la Bandera Irlandesa del Tercio

One of the most recent historiographical contributions on the participation of the Irish brigade recruited by General Eoin O’Duffy in the Spanish Civil War is Tim Fanning’s edition of The Salamanca Diaries (2019), an extensively annotated selection of texts taken from the profuse personal diaries of Father Alexander McCabe, rector of the Irish College in Salamanca during the war period. Through his laborious analysis of the huge handwritten material, in quite illegible and tight handwriting, Fanning has rescued an essential source for the reconstruction of the events that accompanied this irregular adventure of the Irish volunteers who came to Spain in 1936 to fight on the Franco side.

Identification in Drug Prescription using Artificial Intelligence

Medication errors are one of the safety problems most frequently seen in hospital organizations. It is estimated that 12.2% of all hospitalized patients are involved in some form of adverse drug event (ADE). A significant amount of ADEs result from handing the incorrect drug to a patient or prescribing the wrong medication. Issuing of correct prescriptions is a foundation of patient safety. Many times it has happened thatdue to the doctor’s illegible handwriting, wrong prescriptions are bought by the customer. In this paper, variousmethods using artificial intelligence to identify drugs prescribed for patients and to minimise errors which havebeen happening before. Keywords: Look-Alike, Sound-Alike, Optical Identification, Pill Localisation, You Only Look Once

From the History of the Russian Surname of Deyanov / Diyanov / Dianov

The paper discusses the variation of a surname that currently sounds like Dianov over the history of one family. Different variants were retrieved from the official documents preserved in the family archive and from the State Archive of the Sverdlovsk Region, as well as from private correspondence of the 18th–20th centuries, which helped restore the chronology of changes. The authors suggest their own hypothesis about the original form of the surname and the deriving personal name, as well as about the etymon of the latter. In parallel, they also consider the etymologies of the surname Dianov available in literature. The analyzed surname is distinguished from the surname Dianov which, as the authors believe, has clerical origin tracing to the name of the ancient goddess Diana. The deformation of the surname over the course of two centuries could be caused by both objective linguistic factors (the extinction of the sound denoted in Cyrillic by the letter yat, and then the letter itself, the interchange of the letters e/i due to the reduction of unstressed vowels, the loss of etymology of the surname, etc.), as well as subjective factors (insufficient qualifications of employees of civil registration departments, negligence in the preparation of documents, illegible handwriting, etc.). The paper also provides statistics of the existing variants of the surname at the present time (according to the Internet), as well as settlement and street names in Russia derived from it. The surname Deyanin / Diyanin receives a new interpretation in the light of the considered phonetic processes. The conclusion is made about the possibility of an independent development of similar surnames with different origin.

Legal imperatives of medical negligence and medical malpractice

Medical negligence and malpractice are becoming a growing concern in Nigeria; even though many victims do not know how to go about seeking redress or demand justice, medical practitioners, too, do not understand the legal implications of their actions. Medical negligence and malpractice are tortious liabilities that can also result in criminal liabilities. It is a fact that health-care practice will occasionally result in circumstances where health seekers suffer some distress or permanent injury in the course of handling by medical practitioners. This distress or injury can be a result of either commission or omission due to the actions or inactions of the medical practitioner. This review was embarked upon using thoroughly studied recent and older literature concentrating on research indications resulting from the fields of medicine and law within and without Nigeria. Common acts that could give rise to lawsuits on medical negligence and medical malpractice include doctor's illegible handwriting, prescription and medication errors, misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose, improper medical treatment, leaving surgical instruments in patients after surgery, lack of informed consent, failure to refer a patient to a specialist, breach of confidentiality, extortion, and deception among others. For liability to come up in negligence, it is imperative that the three main fundamentals of negligence, which include that a duty of care is owed, there was a breach of the duty of care, and injury or permanent disability suffered as a direct consequence of a breach of the duty of care must be well established and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The inability of a victim to successfully prove a case of negligence against a medical practitioner does not totally absolve a practitioner from charges related to other offences under other aspects of the law, hence the fact that negligence is difficult to prove does not leave a patient deprived of other legal opportunities as may be considered appropriate. Even though the law protects the medical practitioner to the level that liability for medical negligence and medical malpractice has to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, much more legal protection is needed to allow medical practitioners to discharge their duties of saving lives. Medical practitioners need to be aware of their limits as well as the legal implications of their work; this can be achieved by incorporating medicolegal principles into medical education for medical students, as well as periodic medicolegal lectures for medical practitioners.

VOICE BASED PRESCRIPTION USING MACHINE LEARNING

Medicine side effects are the major problem in the world, due to wrong prescriptions thousands of people die every year. Most of these mistakes are due to illegible handwriting which leads to taking the wrong medicine or dosage. To solve this issue, a voice-based prescription came into the picture where the prescription is taken as voice input, and a pdf file is generated which is then emailed to the patient. This method can save wealth and life throughout the world, particularly in developing countries where the prescriptions are generally paper-based. The system proposed in this paper is for those doctors and hospitals that are still using a paper-based handwritten prescription. Keywords: Healthcare, Voice-based, Python, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Electronic Prescription, Text Processing, Electronic Health Record (EHR).