May 01, 2007
Many U.S. Immigrants Can't Read Prescription Labels
From HealthDay:
"Imagine, as an English speaker, picking up a prescription with a label in Chinese -- you have no idea what it says. Many New York immigrants face such high-risk gaps in our health-care services when presented with a medication bottle in English," lead author Linda Weiss, a senior research associate at the a New York Academy of Medicine, said in prepared statement.
Her team randomly surveyed 200 of the 2,186 licensed pharmacies in New York City in 2006 and found that 88 percent reported serving "limited English proficient" (LEP) customers daily. However, only 34 percent reported translating prescription labels daily, even though 80 percent said they could do it. Another 26 percent of the pharmacies said they never translate labels.
The study authors noted that about 25 percent of New Yorkers cannot speak or read English well, and 46 percent speak a language other than English.