Interpreters

Kevin,MD ( http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/) recently discussed a newday article about medical interpreters:

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/wire/sns-ap-hospital-babel,0,7003540.story?coll=sns-ap-health-headlines

Many smaller hospitals do not have trained interpreters available. Often family members/friends are pressed into service. This can create problems:

"We had a case where a patient was being treated for a venereal disease and asked the doctor how she could have contracted it. The doctor explained it, but her husband, who was interpreting, told her that she got it from a public toilet," Sala said.