Your path lab may be giving wrong results

Your path lab may be giving wrong results
No Pathologist At 67% State Laboratories
Preetu Nair | TNN

Panaji: Your path lab may not be giving you the correct result. A 34-year-old learnt this the hard way recently.
He went to several pathological laboratories seeking to find the reason behind his frequent fever. And they all gave different diagnoses. Finally, he was referred to the Goa Medical College, where tests revealed that he was suffering from leukemia, said Dr R G Wiseman Pinto, who heads the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee for Pathology, Bacteriology and allied fields.
The reason behind the different and incorrect results is not hard to seek. Some 100 of Goa’s 150 pathological laboratories are operating without qualified pathologists. They are manned by laboratory technicians with a diploma in medical laboratory technology (DMLT).
Confirming this, Dr Pinto says the state has just about 50 qualified pathologists.
“Though Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 clearly states that the practise of pathology can’t be permitted by a DMLT, many in the state have been running the laboratory without a qualified pathologist,” he said.
Now, the Goa Medical Council is planning to regulate all pathological labs. All existing and new labs will have to register themselves with the council.
It has proposed that standalone labs or independent ones have to be either run by an MD or diploma holder in specialised branches recognised by the Medical Council of India. Pathological labs must be run by MDs
Panaji: The Goa Medical Council has proposed that independent pathological laboratories must be run by an MD or diploma holder in laboratory medicine, pathology and bacteriology, microbiology, biochemistry, clinical pathology, histopathology and other allied specialised branches recognised by the Medical Council of India.
Laboratories attached to private hospitals will have to be manned by a recognised MD or doctor with a diploma. However, if they fail to get an MD or diploma doctor, they can also be manned by an MBBS with three years experience in laboratory medicine in a recognised institute or laboratory.
However, corporate hospitals will have to be run by an MD or diploma holder in laboratory medicine.
Laboratories attached to physicians’ clinics should at least be handled by an MBBS registered with the Goa Medical Council.
Laboratory technicians are not able to identify specific ailments. “Technicians can’t corelate between clinical findings and the results of the test. Moreover, technicians on their own are not supposed to examine patients as only a qualified pathologist can study the history of the patient before arriving at a diagnosis,” said Dr R G Wiseman Pinto, who heads the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee for Pathology, Bacteriology and allied fields. Dr Pinto added that the majority of laboratories manned by DMLTs are in rural areas of the state.
“We had send circulars to several pathology laboratories in the state asking them for details of the laboratory. Not a single one responded,” said Dr Ulhas Karpe, chairman, Disciplinary and Ethics Committee, Goa Medical Council. “But now it has become important to ensure that laboratories are manned by qualified pathologist because even Bombay high court has emphasised this,” he added.

June 10, 2008, The Times of India, Goa edition