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Medical Language Interpreters for Medical Tourism

Medical Interpreter Services for Medical Tourists from Overseas in Denver, Colorado

Medical interpreting services for international non-English-speaking medical tourists constitute just one of the facets of the ongoing health care debate. As debates about health care reform continue in Washington, D.C., many Americans participate in the popular trend known as medical tourism. Essentially, medical tourists are individuals who seek specific medical care or treatment in a foreign country – taking advantage of that country’s lower costs. Popular destinations include Mexico, India, and Thailand. What many of these Americans fail to understand is the risks they take on in the case that something goes wrong.

In the United States patients are fairly well protected by a strong medical malpractice torts system and well-established litigation process. This is not always so when dealing with a foreign jurisdiction – especially when a foreign language is involved. In summary, when a surgery takes place in a foreign country, the patient is bound to that jurisdiction and will, in all likelihood, be forced to rely on a foreign judicial system for compensation that is often far inadequate in comparison to U.S. standards.

One of the main challenges is navigating a foreign legal system – typically with the trouble occurring when trying to prove medical negligence. Not only do doctors and hospitals often simply refuse to provide the requested medical records, but even when they provide those records, an English translation from the given foreign language is required. Such jurisdictions as India and Thailand place great emphasis on medical testimony, meaning the patient’s testimony will be given little regard – especially when it has to go through a foreign language translation. In order to protect themselves, anyone considering medical tourism should consult that jurisdiction’s medical tort statutes and obtain a professional foreign language translation of them prior to deciding to pursue treatment.

Contact our language translation and interpreting firm to retain a medical language interpreter in any language, including Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azeri, Belarusan, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cantonese, Cambodian, Mandarin Chinese, etc.

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