The health-care regulatory commission has asked private hospitals and diagnostic laboratories to “offer free of cost repeat test at the earliest” if a doctor suspects errors in the first report.

While passing an order on complaints of errors by laboratories, the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission said on Wednesday that the pathologist concerned should be cautious while signing a report because a data entry operator might make a mistake while transcribing results.

But “the pathologist must take responsibility for such mistakes and the laboratory would own the responsibility”, the order said.

“Numerical mistakes and name mistakes would have disastrous results if such a report is accepted by the treating doctor and further treatment is proceeded on that basis. In such a situation the testing laboratory must take full responsibility for the injury that may be caused to the patient because of such a wrong report,” the order said.

But it also added that “there cannot be any straightjacket formula. It has to be on a case by case basis”.

“We have been receiving allegations of errors in diagnostic test results from patients. Doctors treating these patients apprehend that the results are not correct and the patients have to undergo repeat tests,” retired judge Ashim Kumar Banerjee, the chairperson of the commission, said on Wednesday.

Later in the evening, a composite order on the complaints heard during Wednesday’s hearing was passed. The order cited two types of mistakes in reports — typographical mistake and testing mistake.

“If the report is transcribed by the data entry operator, there might be a mistake. When the pathologist concerned would sign the report, he must be cautious. If there is any abnormality found in the result… the pathologist must take responsibility... and the laboratory would own the responsibility,” the order read.

“We feel, whenever any laboratory is confronted with the report they should first offer a refund... and go for a free of cost repeat test….”

About testing error, the order said as and when laboratories were “confronted with the report,they must offer a repeat test at the earliest that would ameliorate the grievance of the patient. Generally, the treating doctors would always compare the result with his own observation while examining the patient and in case of any doubt, they would advise for a repeat test…. We feel the laboratory, without going into any controversy, should offer free of cost repeat test at the earliest….”

The order added: “Whenever there is any injury caused by such a wrong report, the laboratory must be appropriately penalised. Otherwise there can be token compensation to be awarded in favour of the patient so that in future, the laboratories would be cautious enough before issuing any test report.”

The order was passed after the commission awarded a compensation of Rs 10,000 to a person who was given a wrongly transcribed report by Medica Superspecialty Hospital. “We have also asked Bhagirathi Neotia Woman and Child Care Centre, New Town, to pay a thyroid patient the cost of a repeat test done in another laboratory,” Banerjee said.

The first test was done at the Bhagirathi Neotia hospital. A doctor at the hospital advised a repeat test after suspecting an error in the report.

An official of the hospital said: “It would be premature to comment till I get a copy of the order.”

At Medica, a man who had earlier tested positive for Covid-19 underwent a D-dimer test, which helps determine blood clot, on September 18.

“The result was 410.32, but because of a typographical error the report showed 41032. The man and his wife were Covid positive. Their 15-year-old daughter fainted after seeing the result,” said Banerjee.

An official of Medica said: “We called the man the next day and offered a repeat test for free. He went to another laboratory.”