Only cardiologists should do echos: Collector

Chennai: Echocardiograms, a test often done during pregnancies, should be done only by trained cardiologists, said Erode district collector S Kandasamy, in a formal communication to Indian Medical Association (IMA) unit in Erode.In many private hospitals, echos are administered by technicians instead of registered cardiologists, he said, adding that it resulted in misdiagnosis in multiple centres, due to which some women received delayed treatment, "endangering" their lives.
In his letter, also marked to the directorate of public health (DPH), and the directorate of medical and rural health services (DMRHS), Kandasamy said anomaly tests, used to detect potential defects or deformities in the baby, should be conducted only by radiologists and not technicians.State's public health officials said no cases of pregnant women losing their lives, or developing complications, had been reported from any district so far. "Inconsistencies could exist across districts, but no fatality of a pregnant mother corresponding to this issue was reported so far," said director of public health Dr A Somasundaram.Dr R M Meenakshi Sundari, JD, DMRHS (ACTs), said that under Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994, licences to perform an echo are issued only to registered medical practitioners or RMPs."If we're talking about registration with the council, we're referring to doctors, not technicians. The technician may drape the patient and apply gel, but touching the equipment and administering the test is itself not allowed as per the Act. You don't ask a nurse to do a surgery if the surgeon faces high footfall. A procedure and a law must be respected," she said.