In a move that could significantly improve diagnostic accuracy and patient safety, the Delhi High Court has directed the Union government to notify long-pending minimum standards in the collection of medical samples or specimens by laboratories and collection centres, and guidelines to transport them, within the next three months.
The order, if implemented, could help curb inaccuracy in test reports, especially when the samples are collected from the home of a patient, experts said. It could also reduce unsafe handling of biological specimens, and treatment errors caused by degraded samples, potentially saving lives, they added.
