Delhi govt says it is cracking down on illegal path labs

In a bid to stop the menace of illegal pathology laboratories in the city, the Delhi government has issued a letter to chief district medical officers (CDMO) of eleven districts across the city, asking them to conduct mapping/survey and categorisation of medical and diagnostic laboratories in their areas, the Delhi high court was told on Monday.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anup J Bhambhani were given this information during the hearing in a plea filed by one Bejon Kumar Mishra, who contended that illegal pathological and diagnostic labs are found in every nook and corner of the national capital.

In an affidavit given to the court on Monday, the principal secretary (health), the Delhi government informed that the CDMOs were directed to expedite the mapping of the illegal path labs with the existing human resources available and provide a weekly report.

It said that the CDMO’s were also directed to conduct the survey on a war footing once the ongoing Measles Rubella (MR) vaccine is concluded.

The Delhi government also informed the court that a meeting was held on December 10, 2018 under the chairmanship of secretary (health) where it was decided to nominate additional director, Directorate of Health Services as nodal officers of this campaign who were directed to stop the functioning of illegal pathlabs.

It also detailed that pursuant to the orders of the court, public notices have been published in the newspapers regarding implementation of the directions issued by the Supreme Court in connection to illegal pathlabs.

The court granted time to the petitioner who filed the case through advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi to file a rejoinder to the affidavit and fixed the matter for July 15.

First Published: Mar 12, 2019 01:42 IST