doctors allowed laboratories to use their names and signatures in return for money
The Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) has released the suspension orders of three pathologists after as they were found guilty for unethical and illegal practice. The Council found gross violation of professional misconduct and code of ethics by the pathologists. As per the order, which was released on April 30, the doctors will not be able to practice for six months from the date of its release.
The decision of suspending the registration of the pathologists was taken in the MMC meeting held in March this year. The council found that the doctors were allowing laboratories to use their names and manual or electronic signatures in return for money.
dna had first revealed how some pathologists were violating rules to generate extra income. This newspaper has been running a series to highlight the issue since March 2014. Many pathology laboratories across the state are taking people for a ride. Lab technicians, and not pathologists, sign reports. dna found this illegal practice rampant in Thane, Navi Mumbai, Panvel, and Borivli.
The Maharashtra Association of Practising Pathologists and Microbiologists (MAPPM), an umbrella body of qualified pathologists, had filed a complaint against four doctors with MMC. This is the first time that a doctors' association came forward to expose the corruption and registered a complaint with substantial proof to nail the erring pathologists.
Welcoming the suspension orders, Dr Sandeep Yadav, MAPPM president, said that this will be a deterrent factor to the rest. "We took this step on public interest. We found that many qualified pathologists were allowing laboratories to use their name and manual or electronic signature in return for money. These doctors had never even visited the laboratories," said Yadav. He added that in the absence of full-time qualified pathologists or part-time pathologists working in such labs, the lab technicians used the electronic signatures to prepare and release reports.
There are more than 15,000 path labs across the state, of which 1,600 operate in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane.
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