Never write a prescription as “8-2-8”. There are chances that the patient may take 8 tablets in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 8 at night.

Write the directions clearly for use of the prescribed drug.  Chapter 10 STEP 5: “Give information, instructions and warnings” of the WHO’s Guide to Good Prescribing - A Practical Manual clearly states that the patients should be instructed about when the drug should be taken.

The dose must be correctly explained to the patient and the time interval should be written clearly as 8am 2pm 8pm.