Unregulated labs putting patients’ lives at risk: DAK

Excelsior Correspondent

Srinagar, Apr 12: While medical diagnostic Centers have mushroomed in Jammu and Kashmir, the Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today said the absence of regulations is leading to the issuance of misleading or outright wrong laboratory reports.
Describing accuracy of lab tests critical for medical decisions, the DAK president, Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan said the unregulated labs are putting health and lives of patients at risk. “More than 70% of medical decisions are based on lab test results and their inaccuracy is causing confusion among doctors and sufferings among patients,” he said.
The DAK president said although the centre has passed the “Clinical Establishment Act in 2010” to bring into its purview the diagnostic industry, but the law is yet to be implemented in JK.
“While ‘National Accredit-ation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories’ has been established to ensure quality in labs, but in JK they operate like mom-and-pop shops in the absence of any binding regulatory norm,” he said.
“With too much blood thinner patients can bleed to death, too little, and their blood can clot causing another heart attack and stroke. A wrong sugar report can prove fatal to a diabetic and an incorrect cholesterol test can subject a patient to unnecessary side effects of a lipid lowering agent,” said Dr Nisar.

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