Across the United States, a quiet failure of coordination leaves non-English speaking patients navigating their medications largely alone. A survey of 169 prescribers at a major academic medical center reveals that the federal promise of translated medication instructions exists mostly on paper — unknown to the clinicians writing prescriptions, invisible to the patients who need it most. This is not a story of neglect so much as a story of systems that were never truly connected, where a legal mandate floats above a reality of broken communication channels and missing infrastructure.
Study reveals critical gaps in pharmacy language support for medication instructions
Non-English speaking patients may receive inaccurate or unclear medication instructions, potentially compromising medication safety and health outcomes.