Private lab barred from RT-PCR tests

Private lab barred from RT-PCR tests

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.05.2021 

The Directorate of Public Health has temporarily cancelled permission for Medall Laboratory to do RT-PCR tests after it added positive results of samples from outside Tamil Nadu into the state's account, besides tagging several negative samples from the state as positive. The lab functioned with a “vested interest” and a “negligent attitude” creating an unfavourable environment in the efforts against Covid-19, a notice issued by the directorate said on Friday.

The results of 919 swab samples received from Kolkata were uploaded as "received from Kallakurichi" on the centralised ICMR portal. Around 4,000 samples that tested negative for the viral infection were uploaded as positive on the ICMR portal between May 19 and 20, a two-page notice served to the lab by the director of public health Dr T S Selvavinayagam said.

“We found a mismatch and did not include these cases in the state registry or in media bulletins,” the DPH said.

“We suspect a nexus between the lab and hospitals,” he said.

The lab’s managing director has been asked to submit an explanation within three working days.

In a releases, Medall said, “We deeply and unconditionally regret the encryption error that occurred while uploading to ICMR database. It must be clarified and placed on record that the report generated and shared with the customers who took the test is accurate. So the issue is not with the testing process or its quality or its accuracy. The issue has been an encryption error (technical).”