Reporter's Diary: The Dreams Road Philosopher

CHENNAI: This is a story about bad photoshop if seen as a one-off incident, or a poser for the law enforcement if it’s prevalent across the city.

A pharmacist friend recently shared a prescription which was sent to him through WhatsApp, followed by the message, “I want medicine”.

Even a cursory glance at the prescription would give away that it’s bogus. The sender sought three medicines — Glycomet, Glyciphage and Nitravet (sleeping pills) for 40 days. This patient suffers from diabetes, blood pressure and sleeping disorder, read the doctor’s note at the bottom of the prescription.

The city police have been aggressively canvassing pharmacies across the city not to issue sleeping pills and painkillers without prescription or online.

The pharmacist who has been aware of such tactics by smarty-pants did not respond to the messages.

But, if one has to grade the photoshopped prescription, it’s a clear F. The doctor’s credentials had an MPhil after MBBS (Hello Dr Strange). Nothing prevents doctors from pursuing a course in philosophy, but it is not the most common pursuit. While the dosage itself is a giveaway, the person who photoshopped the prescription chose the most known hospital in the city, whose address a pharmacist is unlikely to not know.

In the prescription, the address of the hospital named after the Greek god read as Dreams Road, Tondiarpet.