‘78% Maha diagnostic labs run by unqualified techies’
The Maharashtra Association of Practicing Pathologists (MAPP) said on Tuesday that 78% of diagnostic laboratories of Maharashtra are run illegally by technicians who do not have the necessary qualifications. This percentage is based on data provided by the Maharashtra Medical Council. Demanding a blanket ban on illegal laboratories run by officials other than registered pathologists, the MAPP said it would go on an indefinite hunger strike if their demands aren’t met by December.
“There are over 10,000 technicians with a diploma in medical laboratory technology (DMLT) who run diagnostic labs to test and sign reports for blood, urine, tissue, body fluids and other histopathology findings. This is a health hazard for patients since they are not nearly as qualified as pathologists to run a lab,” said Dr Sandeep Yadav, president, MAPP, state’s largest body for practicing pathologists.
Dr Yadav said all 2,200 registered pathologists of the state will call for an indefinite hunger strike in January 2019 if the state doesn’t implement existing norms allowing only practising pathologists to run a laboratory.
MAPP members said data
MUMBAI:
received under a right to information query revealed that 318 of 453 labs in Nashik are illegally run by DMLT technicians.
In Mumbai, about two-thirds of the labs that claim to have pathologists are illegal. The task of checking whether labs are run by trained pathologists falls on the Directorate of Medical Education and Research. For non-compliance, it may seal a laboratory and initiate action against it under the Indian Penal Code.
Only last year, Dr Pravin Shingare, director of DMER, had said technicians operate machines in rural parts of the state only in cases of acute shortage. “We are in line with regulations and I have mentioned before that DMLT technicians play no role in ascertaining diagnosis or cross- checking of reports. They only hand over reports generated by machines,” he had said.
Dr Prasad Kulkarni, an MD and pathologist, questioned the data provided by the government. “If [unqualified] technicians are running labs in rural Maharashtra then how come urban parts also have a high number of illegal labs?” he said.
In a June 24, 2016 government resolution, DMER officials mentioned that examining samples of body fluids, urine, blood or tissue and signing medical reports is a medical practice and should be done only by a registered medical professional. Since then, sporadic actions have been taken by MMC against several pathologists and labs for failure to comply with standards.