When we talk about the medical profession, there is nothing more important than providing life-saving treatment to others. Not every sickness is about a life or death situation, but poor medical translation can lead to dangerous consequences even when you think the matter is not that concerning.
Medical translation is not only about converting words from one language to another, but it is much more than that. It’s about perfectly preserving meaning, accuracy, and cultural relevance to ensure patient safety. There is zero tolerance for mistakes when it comes to the medical field.
When translated is not carried out professionally, poor medical translation includes not handling abbreviations, synonyms, neologisms, wrong word choices, among others. This is the reason why do you need medical translation that helps to seek clarity in medical treatment.
Understanding Importance of Medical Translation
Medical translation is one of the needed translations that help to seek treatment beyond language barriers. Among different fields in translation, in medical, precision is of the utmost importance. This means that every type of content needs a qualified professional who have highly specialized skills.
At the end of the day, you want to have excellent service, and translation ensures no single mistake can cost you thousands in lawsuits or land you in big trouble.
Risks of Poor Medical Translation
There are a lot of terms that are used in medicine that mean life or death and they demand perfect medical translation. It is better not to worsen any medical condition, and the simple fact is that there is a dire need for accurate and reliable medical translations worldwide. However, here are the following risks associated with poor medical translation:
1- Medication Errors or Wrong Dosage Mistake
One of the major risks of poor medical translation is errors in providing prescription instructions, which involve dealing with overdose, under dose, or drug interactions. Even a small wrong decimal or unit abbreviation can result in a life-threatening situation. The following examples clearly describe it:
✷ Using “once daily” for a medical prescription in English means “once in a day,” but “once” means “eleven” in Spanish language.
✷ Misusing milligrams (mg) with micrograms (mcg).
2- Leading To Misdiagnosis And Treatment
Another case that describe why is medical translation important is that a mistranslated medical term, or dosage instruction, can lead to a wrong diagnosis. For example, in a situation, “dizziness” right translation is “lightheadedness,” and if translated to “vertigo,” the entire course of treatment may change. Understand it with a simple example:
✷ Original diagnosis term: “Shortness of breath”
✷ Wrong translation: “Difficulty breathing”
This is a clear misinterpretation of urgency that lead to a wrong treatment pathway.
3- Legal Liabilities
For hospitals, clinics, and pharmaceutical companies, inaccurate translation can lead to lawsuits, regulatory penalties, and loss of licenses. There are several countries that have strict compliance requirements for patient communication. In this, poor translation can invalidate agreements, leading to legal disputes. So, there is a major role of medical translation in every situation.
4- Regulatory Compliance Failures
Pharmaceutical companies that are providing devices must follow strict documentation requirements for multilingual labeling. This also involves packaging, and poor translation can lead to:
✷ Wrong details mentioned
✷ Delays in product launches
✷ Regulatory fines
5- Cultural Misunderstandings
Medical translation is not just about dealing with the linguistic aspect, but it also requires cultural adaptation. There is need to know what is medical translation and without cultural sensitivity, health instructions may be ignored because they conflict with cultural beliefs. It is always best to hire a professional translator who can promise top-notch translation.
6- Major Reputation Damage
Healthcare functions on trust, and if patients feel misunderstood, they will avoid seeking treatment and prefer to look for alternative healthcare experts. Also, they may share negative experiences publicly that can bring harm to a medical brand’s reputation.
How to Avoid the Risks of Poor Medical Translation?
When providing error-free translation for any medical context, here are some important tips that help you with perfect translation:
✷ Working with experienced translators
✷ Use bilingual medical professionals
✷ Conducting proper quality assurance process
✷ Ensure cultural and linguistic relevance
Conclusion
Any kind of decision made from analyzing data has an impact on the diagnosis and treatment. Poor medical translation not just brings in communication issues, but it is a dangerous thing where patient safety, legal, and reputation are at risk. From hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, or medical device manufacturers etc, are preferring to invest in professional translation. At Tridindia, you can get professional translators who have years of experience and provide top-notch translation.
If you are interested in reaching out to us, contact us at +91-8527599223 or quickly send us a instant quote.