State to table bill to regulate pathological labs in monsoon

The state government today said it would once again table the Maharashtra Paramedical Council Bill, which seeks to curb the malpractices of bogus pathology laboratories, in the monsoon session of the legislature.
Speaking in the Legislative Council, BJP's Vijay Girkar today raised the issue of bogus labs which do not have trained personnel and regulatory permissions.
"There are several pathological labs in the state which do not have personnel with Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology, nor do they have permission from the Maharashtra Medical Council to operate," Girkar said.
"These bogus labs issue reports with signatures of bogus doctors. There was recently a case in Mumbai where a lab gave a wrong report that a person had AIDS. The man almost gave up his life in shock," Girkar said.

In reply, the state Education Minister Vinod Tawde said the state government has appointed five committees to work at different levels to keep a check on bogus laboratories.
"Maharashtra Paramedical Council Bill which can put an end to these bogus labs was passed by both Houses of legislature. It was forwarded to the Centre. The Centre had some issues with some words, and it was sent back to make the necessary amendments. We are working out the nitty-gritty and will once again table it in the next session," Tawde said.

The police and Food and Drugs Administration will also keep a check on unauthorised pathology labs and the doctors who issue baseless medical reports to fleece the patients, he said.

"The government wants to take strong action against these labs. But our case should be strong in the courts as well. We need to take care of that," Tawde said.
Girkar said half the pathology labs will shut the shop if action were to be initiated.