RX meds now in multiple languages

In an agreement that should delight tens of thousands Queens residents, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo revealed that two of the largest nationwide pharmacy chains -
CVS and Rite Aid - will be providing customers with prescription medication translations in their native language.
Working alongside Cuomo’s office, these pharmacies will now provide its customers with written information in languages including Chinese, French, Italian, Polish, Russian and Spanish.
Under the agreement, more than 2,000 pharmacies across the state will now be required to provide additional assistance in all languages through a service called Language Line; inform customers of their right to free assistance in reading and understanding their medication; ensure that pharmacy staff counsel customers about their medication in their own language.
After receiving numerous complaints through the non-profit organization Make the Road New York, Attorney General Cuomo conducted an investigation into pharmacies’ policies and procedures.
New York law requires pharmacists to personally provide information about prescription drugs to all patients in writing or orally, and prohibits pharmacies from conducting business in a way that discriminates against non-English speakers.
Co-Executive Director of Make the Road New York Andrew Friedman praised Cuomo for his action,
“I applaud the Attorney General for taking this matter seriously and continuing to protect New Yorkers. Not only does the law require pharmacies to provide interpretation and translation services, but as a practical matter, you cannot take care of people if you cannot communicate with them,” Friedman said.
Nisha Agarwal, Staff Attorney at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest stated that the real winners here are the customers.
“Whether a person understands the purpose of their prescription medication can be a life or death issue. These agreements will help protect the health and well-being of these hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who speak languages other than English,” Agarwal said.
“As many as 168 million of the 4 billion prescriptions written each year could be going to patients who are not able to fully understand the information provided,” said Harvey Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D., President of the National Institute of Medicine.
“The agreements between Attorney General Cuomo and the pharmacies requiring appropriate language services for customers should drastically reduce that number in New York.”