Justice B Adeumo OFR (President of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria had on 27th January 2016 delivered final judgement in suit No NICN/ABJ/284/2014 Nigerian Union of pharmacists, Medical technologists and professions allied to Medicine and Anor VS. Obafemi Awolowo university teaching hospital complex managment board and 6 others 

 

The suit was transferred to the NICN Abuja from the federal high court on 25th september 2014.

 

Highlight of the judgements as obtained by a medicalworldnigeria.com correspondent include.

 

1. The court declared tht the inconsistent provisions of the MDPA are impliedly repealed by the inconsistent provisions of the MLSCNA 2003.

 

2. On the issue of the teaching hospitals being empowered by section 7 of the university teaching hospitals to deploy staff to appropriate departments and appont heads, the court ruled that the boards cannot post those who are not medical laboratory scientists to do the works of medical laboratory scientists and ipso facto neither can it make any other professional other than a medical laboratory scientist the supervisor of medical laboratory scientists or the head of their department.

 

If the effect of making medical laboratory science a profession is to make it a distinctive branch of human endeavour, deserving specialized trainings, then the necessary corollary is autonomy of the profession. A profession can only be so called if it has independence of existence and a profession cannot have independence of existence if it  is tied to the apron strings of another profession by means of supervision and authentication of its works which is what pathologists are demanding here. Medical laboratory scientists should have their works supervised and sent directly to the clinicians that requested for their expertise, without the duplicative interpositions of the pathologists.

 

The argument that medical laboratory scientists were originally mere technicians to assist medical doctors even if it is so,is on no moment now. the law in its wisdom, has decreed that pathology has grown unwieldy because of the share variety of duties dovetailed onto it such that it was necessary to divide it into two by means of specialization and divison of labour, in order to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in health service delivery. The unrivalled authority of ..... the implication being that if the medical doctor (pathologist) now wants to practice as a medical laboratory scientist, he must satisfy the requirements of the law and be certified by the professional body created. 

 

According to the document obtained by a medicalworldnigeria.com correspondent, the courts also declared

 

a) Medical laboratory science counci of Nigeria is the statutory regulator for the practice of medical laboratory science / Medical laboratory services in Nigeria

 

b) Only professionals regulated and or subject to the council in Nigeria and who are qualified medical laboratory scientists that are entitled to practices as professional medical laboratory scientists within the meaning and intendment of the medical laboratory science council of nigeria Act No.11 of 2003

 

c) An order of injunction restraining the 1st plaintiff, 1st to 5th defendants and or other members /privies who are not subject to and or under the statutory regulation of the 6th defendant from representing, holding themselves out or continuing to represent and or hold themselves out as authorized to occupy any position and or assume any such position reserved for qualified medical laboratory scientist or otherwise interfering in the perfomance and discharge of the functions/duties of a medical laboratory scientists.

 

This judgement has put to rest any controversy between the MLSCN Act and the MDP Act and thus empowers the council to continue in its fight against quackery in the nation.

 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE COURT JUDGEMENT IN PDF FORMAT.