Ahmedabad: A three-day inspection of local clinics, pathological laboratories, children hospitals and maternity homes in city revealed a lurking danger, especially of doctors, not revealing their source for procuring their syringes and IV injectibles. What is shocking is that there is no law in Gujarat that makes it mandatory for doctors to declare procurement details as part of their med-l ical practice, neither is there any provision even under the state epidemic control Act. The scam of using recycled injectibles could have been traced faster had the doctors maintained such details. Most of the inspected doctors have been practicing between five to 10 years in their respective areas. Of the 60-odd clinics, pathological laboratory that AMC health department visited till now only 10 had bills of procurement that contained the names of dealers or retailers that supplied them. The drive was first carried out in Girdharnagar, Madhupur, Dudheshwar, Raikhad, Jamalpur, Khadia, Shahpur and Dariapur as a test, which revealed the loopholes. Most doctors revealed that the bills were not procured in order to save on tax and even reduce their procurement margins. In Dariapur for instance, out of 11 inspections, medical institutions like nursing homes, pathology labs, and private practitioners were targeted who did not have bills. Six cases in Shahpur includes a children hospital that did not have bills. In Khadia, there were 10 cases, seven cases each in Dudheshwar and Madhupura and six cases in rdharnagar. The drive for now will concentrate on areas with larger number of middle and lower income group areas, where medical practitioners throw rules to the wind. The number of such cases is expected to soar, according to senior AMC health officials. Similar surveys are on in north and south zone right now and will extend to west and new west zones. One of the major reasons why doctors could be withholding details, according to AMC officials, is because syringes would reveal a rough estimate of patients coming into their facilities and show their real cost as they had been procured cheap in a flimsy bubble pack. "If doctors or labs do not maintain such records how would we come to know of the quality of syringes and injectibles they have been using? If recycled injectibles are being pumped through the grey market and there is no mechanism to check such a practice we have much to worry about," says AMC medical officer Suhas Kulkarni.