Assam: Unregulated pathological labs and blood collection centre cause of concern

OUR CORRESPONDENT

DIGBOI: Unauthorised and unregulated pathological labs and petty blood sample collection centres have been on the rise unabated here in the small oil town of Digboi in Tinsuka district.

A two-day random survey by journalists in the township revealed that around a dozen blood collection centres have been operating. Most of the centres were found trading monopolies without complying with the set norms.

Barring two, all the centres were found in an utterly unhygienic state without even a provision of hand wash and unmaintained toilets, aside from lacking definite waste management planning.

Meanwhile, almost all the centres being managed privately with affiliation to various patho labs outside Digboi did not possess adequate technician certificates, trade licenses, or other relevant documents, aside from lacking amenities for the patients.

Admitting the lacuna with the existing centres, one of the doctors even went to the extent of requesting to drop the process, thus avoiding the publication of the finding in media outlets.

“The adverse report may lead to the closure of petty centres, resulting in inconvenience to the patients,” added the doctor.

“I believe your findings whatsoever would not carry any adverse report against my blood collection centre,” said another government doctor who attends the patient privately in his chamber in the centre itself in the evening.

Surprisingly, one of the centres located inside the pharmacy failed to provide any documents to justify his business. The owner offering temptation to the Sentinel said he would obtain all relevant documents, including affiliation registration, trade license, technician certificate, etc., very soon.

What is astonishing about the business lies in the fact that all the labs or centres were running the business with close understanding with the doctors around.

“We give 25 to 30 percent to commissions to doctors for prescribing pathological and other investigations in our labs and centres,” alleged one of the technicians on the condition of anonymity.

What raised eyebrows again here is the process of obtaining the trade license without submitting the relevant documents to run the business. A document of a technician citing Puronipukhuri post office, Madhapur, in Digboi was detected in one of the centres close to a doctor’s chamber, even though the place doesn’t actually exist in Digboi.

Meanwhile, the joint director, Tinsukia Jayanta Bhattacharjee, said that non-compliance by the centres would lead to the closure of the centre.

“We are keeping an eagle eye upon the activities of such units beside other segments, including pharmacies, polyclinics, and hospitals,” said the official, adding we have started collecting data for the purpose.” In spite of full knowledge about the mushrooming of such unauthorised clinics, centres, and pharmacies across the town, the government is reluctant to initiate any crackdown against them.

“Labs run by non-qualified pathologists like diploma (DMLT) and certificate (CMLT) holders are completely illegal. On the same lines, a qualified pathologist signing the reports submitted by technicians without being present at the lab also becomes an illegal practice. Action must be taken in both cases,” demanded a doctor.

Also Read: Assam: Blood Bank sanctioned at Rangia Civil Hospital (sentinelassam.com)

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