From the Daily News:A new bill requiring chain pharmacies in the city to provide translation help along with their pills isn't going down too well with some critics.
The City Council bill calls for pharmacists to speak any foreign language spoken by 1% or more of the people in any community district.
A Department of Consumer Affairs' representative testified the bill would impose "an especially cumbersome and expensive set of obligations" on both businesses and the department.
Photo by dumbonyc on Flickr
19 comments:
Hahaha! When I read the header I thought it meant translate into English.
What was I thinkin'?
www.forgotten-ny.com
Let the bigotry begin!
I live in a Russian neighborhood. There are two pharmacies near me. One is CVS and the other is a Russian-owned small business. I'd guarantee that most, if not all, of Russian immigrants in the area go to the Russian-owned place and that the non-Russians go to CVS.
I'm sure my neighborhood isn't the only one where this happens so this bill seems really strange. Has there been problems with non-English speakers getting sick from medication?
Doctors write prescriptions in Latin. How many of you read Latin?
ISN'T IT MUCH EASIER, ALL AROUND, TO REQUIRE U.S. CITIZENS TO HAVE AN ADEQUATE COMMAND OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE?
A lot cheaper in the end too for us already overburdened taxpayers!
PANDERING FOR PROFIT!
All of this multi translation stuff has built an industry in itself.
It eats up paper and ink; time; creates more pollution; and winds up increasing our taxes!
Proud to be a "bigot" if it means thinking "BIG" and seeing the "BIGGER", long term picture!
You on the other hand indulge in "SMALL-ITRY"!
You're narrowly focused and possess a small minded agenda...a product of your limited mental capacity and knee jerk attitudes!
Now go and wipe your ass with your generally directed insults!
I luv it!
He (or she) is a "Small-it"!
Maybe this will be an incentive to build more supermarkets and less pharmacies. Could we also have more stores in English. Last time I drove down Northern Blvd. in Flushing I thought I was in a Godzilla movie.
Dammit is it too much to ask to be able to learn and speak that language of the country you live in? Holy crap this the biggest load of BS. If I moved to a foreign country I would learn to speak their language because they sure as hell wouldn't make their people speak my language to accommodate me like the US does. Damn this is a joke...
at queens blvd and albion ave, check out the McDonald's billboard written in korean
This is insane. Enough already with all the translating. Like others said, if any of us moved to a foreign country would we get the same considerations? I don't think so! Nor should we!
Learn English, people. It's hard enough getting a job in this city where you are not required to speak Spanish, Creole, or Chinese... and I'm talking about public-sector jobs!
And if the pharmacist has no time to learn a new language, fears liability issues with mis-translated scripts or cannot afford to hire employees who speak the language, what then, a closed pharmacy?
What about neighborhoods where the type of people in residence change regularly. Do they need to use the latest census figures to stay in compliance.
Western Queens is host to over 200 languages. Who can learn them all? Maybe the immigrants should learn the common language instead, as was once required for citizenship.
You on the other hand indulge in "SMALL-ITRY"!
Wow, that's really funny in a Larry the Cable Guy way. And much simpler than actually understanding the etymology of words in your "native" language.
Sounds like they will put Pharmacies out of buisness with this new strange requirement. Seems to me learning the common language of the land - English - is a natual solution, not the other way around.
One poster claimed folks went to small Pharmacies that spoke their language - this seems to be logical and a good buisness advantage - it's not madatory - that same phramacy does not have to offer an employee who speaks Korean or German by law.
Most small pharmacies in my neighborhood already offer translation services in over 4 or 5 languages, Italian, Polish, Spanish, etc. They probably and hopefully get more business from the locals. Not sure if big box pharmacies such as CVS or Rite Aid offer the service, at least, I've never seen it advertised.
Translate this multi lingual:
F--K YOU...LEARN ENGLISH!
I wonder who is supposed to benefit from this because the increased cost will be passed on and may put the medicine out of reach of the supposed beneficiaries.
I imagine it would be more intelligent to have a family member or neighbor translate for the medicine-taker if necessary than for the person to be unable to afford the drug.
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