We’ll get started by jotting down two notes and a conclusion. First, a drug label is all the printed (and possibly digital) information included with any medication. We can simply describe it as the printed, or graphic materials upon a drug container or wrapper ─ which includes contents, indications, effects, dosages, routes, methods, frequency and duration of administration, warnings, hazards, contraindications, side effects, precautions, etc.
Second, which is the more important note, adverse drug events (ADE) constitute any medication error with significant potential to harm a patient, and which usually occurs due to inadequate or ineffective systems of labeling. ADE often results in mistakes in compliance with the prescription instructions. In other words, drug labeling is an important factor in the occurrence of ADEs and will be, if done properly, a valuable tool in reducing the number of ADEs and negative patient outcomes.
The conclusion, however, is these mistakes are costly and can be deadly? Adverse drug events (ADE) and medical errors are a leading cause of death, accounting for over 100,000 deaths annually in the USA.
When it comes to the life sciences industry, there is no doubt that the drug safety system relies on pharmaceutical companies to provide accurate and complete warnings and contraindications to both doctors and patients. However, this safety information is not always effectively communicated to those physicians and to those who take the medications.
So, the question remains: what is wrong with the entire communication process, which results in endangering the lives of people? The answer lies in the translation, and specifically in the particular domain of life science translation, which is increasingly becoming an integral part of the overall communication between pharma companies and the users of their products worldwide.
Why Life Science Translation Services are Important?
When we look closely at translations of labeling and packaging in life sciences, the most essential and all-embracing factor is always patient safety. The consequences for mistranslation of labeling and packaging in life sciences are definitely catastrophic. Most importantly, there is a substantial risk of patient safety that could occur, whereas, for example, misinterpretations in dosing could mean a matter of life or death.
So, what is the effect on drug companies? For any drug manufacturer, the resulting fall-out from that would be almost impossible to recover. Even if it could manage the global PR disaster that would arise, the chances of getting in hot water with the health authorities are high, meaning that the company’s ability to market and sell its products would be severely impacted.
Therefore, it’s an established fact now that accurate and effective translation is a big deal and one that pharma businesses simply must get right.
But it’s also a major challenge. Life sciences are a global market, with some products sold in hundreds of countries across the world, requiring large-scale life science translation services in a multitude of languages. We estimate that when you consider the total labeling content a pharmaceutical company may collectively manage over the course of a year, the number is in the tens of millions of words. This is a significant amount of content to manage – and to make sure it’s translated in an accurate, error-free manner.
Is Patient Safety and Translation Accuracy Related?
With this, we finally arrive at the important question of how can life sciences firms navigate the complexity of labeling and packaging translations, ensuring accuracy but not being overly-costly? If patient safety is the cornerstone of the whole business, and given that the consequences of having low-quality translation are dangerous, so how can life sciences companies select the right provider of scientific translation services?
Why Is Future Trans the Right Solution?
With a worldwide reputation for being number one in providing integrated language and localization solutions, hundreds of leading life sciences companies across the globe are choosing Future Trans – thanks to our unique blend of quality and on-time delivery?
Over 25 years of hands-on experience as an ISO 17100 certified translation and localization services provider, we’ve capitalized upon state-of-the-art technology and the latest versions of quality assurance & project management tools to ensure our work standards always remain high.
However, we always pride ourselves on the human dimension of our business, namely our team of scientific translation services specialists ─ who also have in-depth knowledge of international markets and country-specific regulations.
Contact us today to find out how we can help you meet your life science translation requirements.
