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Talking Prescription Labels in 26 Languages

from a You Tube video
En-Vision America
from a You Tube video

A pharmacy chain in the midwest is now offering talking prescription labels, in 26 languages. Last week, Hy-Vee announced the new service that's available at its nearly 300 pharmacies in eight states.

Spokeswoman Christina Gayman says prescription labels will look the same as they do now except they'll also have a special tag.

"So you will either download the free ScripTalk mobile app on your phone that will read that tag for you. And within that tag is all the information that you might need. Or if you don't have a phone, we can provide to them a free ScripTalk reader.

Information will include the drug name, correct dosage, and any possible warnings, plus the name of the doctor and pharmacy and contact information.

The new service is made possible by a product called ScripTalk from En-Vision America.

"As we hear more from our patients about accessibility, you know people are feeling a little more empowered to say what they need, what's helpful for them, and what makes their lives easier."

She says this will be helpful for people whose main language is not English, such as Hindi, Somali, Chinese, and 23 others, but also for those who have vision or reading problems.

(languages available: Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Burmese, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), English, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Nepali, Pashtu, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, and Vietnamese)

( a video on how does ScripTalk Work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Dfhq50hj4&t=17s )

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois. While a graduate student in the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois at Springfield (then known as Sangamon State University), he got his first taste of public radio, covering Illinois state government for WUIS. Here in the Quad Cities, Herb worked for WHBF Radio before coming to WVIK in 1987. Herb also produces the weekly public affairs feature Midwest Week – covering the news behind the news by interviewing reporters about the stories they cover.