¿Comprendes?

Please read the following information carefully as it pertains to the medication prescribed to your child:

Para recibir la cantidad correcta de medicamento es indispensable cebar el inhalador. Cébelo antes de usarlo por primera vez o cuando no lo haya usado durante más de 14 días. Para cebarlo, quítele la tapa a la boquilla del disparador. Después, agite bien el inhalador y haga una pulverización al aire, lejos de su rostro. Para terminar de cebarlo, haga otras dos agitaciones y pulverizaciones de esta forma.

So, if you only speak English, do you now know how to give your child his or her medication? How does this make you feel right now? Confused? Angry? Concerned? Imagine being a non-English speaker and this is how the piece of paper stapled to your prescription medication reads:

You must prime the inhaler to get the right amount of medicine. Prime the inhaler before you use it for the first time or if you have not used it for more than 14 days. To prime the inhaler, take the cap off the mouthpiece of the actuator. Then shake the inhaler well and spray it into the air away from your face. Shake and spray the inhaler like this 2 more times to finish priming it.

Filling a prescription may not help you if you are unable to understand when or how to take it. The leading cause of medication errors is patient misunderstanding of prescription drug label instructions.

A new study from Northwestern University surveyed pharmacies in Texas, Colorado, Georgia and North Carolina where there are large Latino populations. Of the 764 pharmacies, only 43.3% could offer instructions in Spanish. 21.7% offered some translation services and 34.9% offered no services.

Most pharmacies offer none or limited translation services and not just in rural areas or those with small Latino populations. The conclusion of the study was that “Spanish-speaking patients encounter barriers to acquiring instructions that support the safe and effective use of medications.”

Should knowing how to take your medication properly be limited to persons who only speak English? That seems rather discriminatory. In a country where we have so much, is being able to read your prescription medication instructions too much to ask?