Support Translated Prescription Drug Labels
Follow the implementation of SB 472, which required the Board of Pharmacy to develop standardized, patient-centered prescription drug labels.
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On November 17 the Office of Administrative Law approved the Board of Pharmacy regulations on the development of standardized, patient-centered prescription drug labels. The regulations go into effect on January 1, 2011.
The goal of the original legislation was to create prescription drug labels that provide medical information in a consistent format that is legible, and linguistically appropriate. Unfortunately, the implementing regulations are a far cry from meeting this goal. Despite testimony from patients, researchers, and advocates, the final regulations only require the use of 10-point font (the standard for readability is 12-point) and include no requirement for pharmacies to use translated labels, despite the fact that they will be easily available on the Board of Pharmacy’s website.
CPEHN will monitor the implementation of the regulations, particularly the policies and procedures on how pharmacies will identify a patient’s language and provide interpretive services in that language, if available. While we are very disappointed in the final regulations, we believe that these regulations will provide a foundation for future work on this issue.
Download a copy of the final regulations.