Petition in HC seeks curbs on illegal pathology labs in Delhi

The petition claimed these labs are run by unqualified and irregular lab technicians. They are neither registered technicians nor have any required degree to manage pathological and diagnostic labs.

The Delhi high court on Thursday sought to know the Delhi government’s stand on a plea seeking the closure of unauthorised pathology and diagnostic laboratories being run by unqualified lab technicians.

A file photo of Delhi high court. (HT File Photo)

A bench of chief justice Rajendra Menon and justice V Kameswar issued notice to the Delhi government on the plea filed by one Bejon Kumar Mishra, who said illegal pathological and diagnostic labs are found in every nook and corner of the national capital.

The petition claimed these labs are run by unqualified and irregular lab technicians. They are neither registered technicians nor have any required degree to manage pathological and diagnostic labs.

“These persons are not only conducting various tests but are also providing inferences based on unscientific and unqualified outcomes, which undermine the health and safety of the patients,” the plea alleged.

It claimed there are more than 20-25,000 path labs, which are mushrooming across the city.

“These diagnostic and pathological labs are just the tip of the iceberg, as such labs with unqualified staff continue to function with full impunity across the NCT of Delhi,” the petition said, adding such labs have access to scanned signatures of doctors that are being used to prepare lab reports in a fraudulent manner.

It claimed the Delhi government had no proper mechanism or strategy to stop such illegal labs.

The plea sought directions to the Delhi government to formulate a robust policy in the interest of patients for regulating the functioning and opening of pathological laboratories in the NCT of Delhi.