BENGALURU: A communication by the Medical Council of India saying that only those who have registered with MCI and state medical councils will be allowed to sign on medical reports has received opposition from the hospital sector. This recent decision by MCI will keep all pathologists and those with MSc or MD in biochemistry, microbiology, medical microbiology away from signing certificates, health and medical reports.
At present, MSc and PhD holders in medical microbiology, medical biochemistry, life sciences, applied biology, cutogenetics and biotechnology are allowed to sign medical test reports. But this new decision by MCI will restrict MSc and PhD holders to only teaching. A senior professor of a medical college in the city said, “These are allied sciences and MCI can’t restrict them to teaching. If MCI says only those registered with MCI can sign health and medical reports, then only MBBS doctors can sign.” “These pathology lab reports are system generated and they don’t need an MBBS holder to sign them,” said another senior pathologist.
Many in the sector have raised the issue with Union health minister J P Nadda on Twitter and some have even asked HRD minister Prakash Javadekar to remove MSc in biochemistry and microbiology courses from the purview of U GC.