---
title: "JAMA Internal Medicine: A Perspectives piece on language barriers — #1 Medical Spanish eLearning | Canopy Innovations"
description: "One of the \"Perspectives\" pieces published in the April 2015 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine highlights the importance of working to remove language barriers. The piece reviews a patient who was on duplicative medication because of a miscommunication due to a language bar"
---

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# [JAMA Internal Medicine: A Perspectives piece on language barriers — #1 Medical Spanish eLearning | Canopy Innovations](https://blog.withcanopy.com/blog-list/an-article-in-jama-internal-medicine-on-language-barriers)

 Written by [Anny Zhang](https://blog.withcanopy.com/author/anny-zhang) | May 4, 2015 4:00:00 AM

One of the "perspectives" pieces published in the April 2015 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine highlights the importance of working to remove language barriers. The piece reviews a patient who was on duplicative medication because of a miscommunication due to a language barrier. Had this mistake not been caught, the patient would have received a permanent pacemaker when unnecessary.

> “As physicians, we use information from conversations with the patient and family and combine it with evidence to come to a diagnosis and plan of care. Language barriers create situations with a higher risk of errors, both under-treatment and over-treatment. Removing language barriers and speaking with patients in their own language can help patients receive the care they need and equally importantly, not receive the treatments they do not need.”

[View full post](https://blog.withcanopy.com/blog-list/an-article-in-jama-internal-medicine-on-language-barriers)

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