Pharmacy Language Access Is a Code-Red Patient Safety Problem, RxTran White Paper Warns

Report urges pharmacists and legislators to treat unverified prescription translation as a clinical risk as more states adopt label translation laws

Key takeaways:

• RxTran, a division of Language Scientific, released Pharmacy Language Access Is a Code-Red Problem, a white paper finding that pharmacies can comply with every state prescription label law and still dispense labels that patients with limited English proficiency can't read.
• More than 28 million U.S. residents have limited English proficiency. Five states regulate prescription label translation in different ways, and Washington's rule, effective Jan. 22, 2027, sets no language limit.
• Every RxTran translation is verified by a licensed bilingual pharmacist. Its library of more than 1 million pre-translated prescription directions passes a five-step quality control review before a translation reaches a patient.

BOSTON, Oct. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- RxTran, a division of Language Scientific, today released Pharmacy Language Access Is a Code-Red Problem, a white paper arguing that unverified prescription translation puts patients at risk and that state mandates alone won't fix it. The report draws on peer-reviewed outcomes research, federal patient safety guidance, the five state laws that govern prescription labels, and RxTran's own label-request data.

The white paper includes contributions from Sharon Blank, Chief Executive Officer of Language Scientific and RxTran, and Kristen Beiers-Jones, RN, MN, Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing, who led the effort to pass Oregon's prescription label translation law.

"This should be a wake-up call for pharmacists, pharmacy leaders, legislators, and state boards of pharmacy," said Blank. "Compliance with the law is too low a standard. The right standard is accountable language access, where a qualified professional verifies every translated label and can stand behind it. A patient should walk out of the pharmacy able to safely take their medicine."

Why is pharmacy language access a code-red problem?
In 2006, the Institute of Medicine identified poor comprehension of prescription directions as a root cause of adverse drug events. Two decades later, the label still hasn't been made comprehensible for more than 28 million U.S. residents with limited English proficiency. In one study of more than 400,000 hospitalized adults, patients with limited English proficiency had 33% higher odds of readmission within seven days.

Why isn't complying with state law enough?
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act apply to nearly every hospital and pharmacy in the country. Five states go further and regulate prescription labels directly, but no two require the same languages. Washington's rule, WAC 246-945-029, takes effect Jan. 22, 2027, and requires pharmacies to provide patients access to written translation and oral interpretation support in the 10 most common languages spoken in the state. None of these laws guarantees that the patient can read the label.

"Since passing the Oregon law, every pharmacy and health system has approached the requirement differently," said Beiers-Jones. The result, she said, is inconsistent implementation with no dedicated funding behind it. "Pharmacists want all patients to understand how to take their medications, but the systems to support pharmacists in this are lacking."

What does the white paper recommend pharmacies do?
The report defines accountable language access as a pharmacy's ability to stand behind a translated label clinically and legally, and to name who verified it. Its six principles start with human clinical validation, with a qualified reviewer checking every translation before it reaches a patient, and end with a named party accountable for accuracy.

How are RxTran's translations validated and delivered?
RxTran's library holds more than 1 million pre-translated SIGs (the directions for use that appear on a label) across 27 languages. Every one passes a five-step quality control review: a forward translation, an independent edit, a back translation into English, a reconciliation of the back translation against the English source, and final approval by a licensed bilingual pharmacist. RxTran's patented Transduction technology lets a pharmacist confirm the meaning of a translation in English before it reaches the patient.

RxTran integrates with most major pharmacy software and data partners used across independent and chain pharmacies, including Best Computer Systems, Computer-Rx, Datascan, En-Vision, Foundation Systems, Gold Standard/Elsevier, Liberty Software, PDX Enterprise Pharmacy System, QS/1, Rx30, ScriptPro, Speed Script, and SRS Pharmacy Systems. Pharmacies without an integrated system can reach translations through RxTran's web platform.

The full white paper, "Pharmacy Language Access Is a Code-Red Problem," is available at: https://www.rxtran.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/White-Paper-RxTran_Pharmacy-Language-Access-is-a-Code-Red-Problem.pdf.

About RxTran
RxTran is a division of Language Scientific, Inc., the clinical, medical, and scientific language specialists. RxTran's patented Transduction technology (U.S. patents 11,836,454 and 12,602,554) provides pharmacist-verified prescription medication labeling in 27 languages (soon to be 30 languages). For more information visit www.rxtran.com or www.languagescientific.com.

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SOURCE RxTran