The Maharashtra Medical Council has suspended these three doctors for violating the rules for generating extra income by allowing the diagnostic labs to use their manual or electronic signature or technicians to sign the final reports without even overseeing the entire process which the pathologists are authorized to do. This malpractice is rampant in several areas of Mumbai. The Government has now mandated that a qualified pathologist who is a qualified in MD Pathology must oversee the functioning of the laboratory and finalise the reports.
Since the diagnostic reports are vital for deciding the course of treatment for patients, how do you propose to step up the vigilance to curb such malpractices? Should the government implement much stricter rules than mere suspension? What about the opposite, can an MD pathology run a diagnostic laboratory without the help of a trained technician?
