Preventing Vital Health Care Information from Being Lost in Translation

Stateline: A 9-year-old girl, misdiagnosed with the stomach flu, died after a doctor failed to communicate to her Vietnamese-speaking parents that the drug he prescribed for her could have dangerous side effects.

A 78-year-old stroke victim had to have her leg amputated after doctors and nurses didn’t understand her when she complained, in Russian, of pain and numbness.

And a 7-year-old boy suffered organ damage because his pediatrician mistakenly diagnosed him with strep throat, having struggled to communicate with his Spanish-speaking father and grandparents during repeated visits over several weeks.

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