Maharashtra Medical Council suspended Pathologists as they were found signing different lab reports from different pathological labs situated in different parts of Maharashtra without directly verifying it.such practice is adapted by many Doctors in different parts of our country where Pathologists sign reports as prepared by lab assistants working but as per MCI only MBBS Doctors after having 1-2 yrs of Diploma or MD pathology or Microbiology can sign reports only after they verify it personally,even PHD scholars are not allowed to sign reports .MMC conducted fresh enquiry as Bombay High court directed it to do it gian as first doctors were nabbed in 2016.

                 Maharasthra had 10000 labs and 2000 in Mumbai but only 25000 registered pathologists.So under them The complaint against these pathologists was filed by the Maharashtra Association of Practising Pathologists and Microbiologists (MAPPM), a body that monitors practices of pathologists and microbiologists in the state. In the complaint, they had alleged that several illegal laboratories were collaborating with registered pathologists, willing to sign the lab reports without supervising the tests.

On inspection, the MMC found that it was impossible for one pathologist to visit so many centres, located far apart from one another, on a single day.The MMC has now formed a five-member committee to submit recommendations on comprehensive guidelines for registered pathologists in the state. The committee will also lay down guidelines for minimum number of laboratories a pathologist could attach himself or herself with. This will ensure a pathologist is not attached with a lab for just monetary benefits.

                  A pathologist’s work involves testing samples of urine, blood, stool or tissue, to make diagnosis of a particular infection or disease. Based on their reports, a clinician can decide the course of treatment. In India, pathologists are permitted to work in multiple laboratories, but norms demand that they should be physically present while samples are being tested in the laboratory, before they make an analysis and sign the report.

        In this case, the pathologists were found signing reports, without supervising the testing. The labs were actually being run by technicians, holding either a Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology (DMLT) or Certificate degree in Medical Laboratory Technology (CMLT), which qualifies one to conduct tests but only under a pathologist’s supervision.“These technicians were running labs by themselves. Since they are not registered with us, we cannot take action against them,” said Shivkumar Utture, a member of the MMC.

                Not only in Mumbai in many parts of our country such unethical practice is going on.It is high time that as a doctor we should stop it tking detterant from such action of Mumbai MMC.