Bad Prescription Translations Put Patients at Risk

Relying on machines to provide prescription translations can be hazardous to your health.

A new study has found that computer translations of prescription medication labels contain many errors — including instructions that could be harmful if followed.

Prescription Translation Requirements

In 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a law requiring that pharmacy chains in New York City offer prescription label translations in six of the most frequently spoken languages in addition to English. Many other metropolitan areas across the country followed suit.

To see if this service was being provided, two people — Dr. Iman Sharif, a Delaware-based doctor, and Julia Tse, a researcher affiliated with Dartmouth College in New Hampshire — visited pharmacies in The Bronx, New York, where 44 percent of residents speak Spanish as their primary language.

Their findings, which were published in medical journal “Pediatrics,” were astounding. About 25 percent of the pharmacies they visited didn’t offer prescription translations, even though the law requires that they must be available.

Of the pharmacies that did provide prescription translations, over 80 percent used computers to translate the labels. A few pharmacies used bilingual staff members to provide prescription translations, and only about 3 percent used professional medical translators and interpreters.

A Closer Look at the Computer Prescription Translations

Sharif and Tse examined 76 prescription label translations that they generated using 13 different computer translation programs that the pharmacies reported using.

Over half of the prescription translations had serious errors. Six had spelling and grammatical errors, while over 30 were incomplete.

Sharif reported that a common problem with the prescription translations was “Spanglish.” The translations often had a mix of English and Spanish words, which could result in some very dangerous situations — for example, the case of a man who took his two blood pressure medications 11 times a day instead of once, because the word “once” means “eleven” in Spanish.

Misspellings were also responsible for some dangerous mistranslations. The word “poca” was used, which is Spanish for “little”; however, the word that should have been used was “boca,” meaning “mouth,” indicating that the patient needed to take the medication orally.

Other poor prescription translations included these nonsensical instructions:

• Apply to affected area twice to the indicated day like.
• Take 1.2 aldia give dropperfuls with juice eleven to day.
• Taking 0.6 mL 2 times to the day by little with juice.

The Importance of Human Translators

Sharif called for improved computer translation programs, but she also stated that there is no way a computer translation can ever come close to the accuracy of a human translator or interpreter.

Pharmacies should at least be double-checking the computer translations for obvious mistakes or any directions that could be confusing.

Sharif also urged patients who don’t speak English to “ask for a professional interpreter — don’t just accept that you don’t speak English and therefore you don’t get to have information about your medicine.”

Pharmacies should be in contact with professional translators to ensure patients receive prescription translations that are error-free.