Association Flags Pharmacies As Hotspots For Quack Laboratory Practice

The Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) has warned that the growing trend of pharmacies conducting medical tests across the country is illegal and poses a serious public health threat.

AMLSN president, Dr. Casmir Ifeanyi, said the practice violates Nigeria’s health laws and endangers millions of citizens who unknowingly patronise these facilities.

“Testing is being conducted in pharmacies, and provision shops. This is criminal. The mere fact that you are conducting testing in a provision shop is already a public health hazard. Many of these acts amount to serious bioterrorism,” he said.

Dr. Ifeanyi told LEADERSHIP that medical laboratory testing, whether for diagnosis, treatment, or disease monitoring, must only take place in certified laboratory environments designed with biosafety and containment structures.

“There is no pharmacy in Nigeria that does not double as a provision shop, yet many of them now offer tests to the public. This is unacceptable, dangerous, and unlawful,” he said.

He lamented the alarming rise of quack practitioners masquerading as medical laboratory scientists, warning that unqualified individuals were placing patients at risk.

According to him, people with unrelated science degrees, including zoology, biochemistry, microbiology, physiology, and basic sciences, are increasingly offering diagnostic services they are neither trained nor licensed to provide.

“A situation where school dropouts, charlatans, people who have done studies in basic science and what have you, including courses like zoology, begin to posture as people who can provide testing for disease diagnosis, for treatment and for management and prevention of diseases is unacceptable.

And we must all condemn it and to fight quackery, particularly in medical laboratory services provision.

“A biochemist is not a medical lab scientist, a physiologist is not a medical lab scientist, a science laboratory technologist is not a medical lab scientist, a  microbiologist is not a medical lab scientist. So in the area of testing, testing is exclusively to be done for humans and animals, pursuant to the laws of the federation by medical laboratory scientists,” he lamented.

While revealing that many offenders have been apprehended, Dr. Ifeanyi said weak regulatory systems and slow judicial processes hinder meaningful progress.

He added that the poor pace of law enforcement enables unlicensed facilities to continue to operate openly, with some boldly advertising diagnostic services on street signboards.

Despite these challenges, Dr. Ifeanyi said AMLSN is strengthening its fight against quackery, making public awareness a core priority of his administration.

He commended ongoing efforts by the Tinubu administration to improve the health sector but said the gains are being undermined by the unregulated diagnostic space.

“Quality and patient safety must be the foundation of Nigeria’s healthcare system. We must invest in regulation and put an end to the quackery compromising our medical laboratory services,” he said.