Jue's mistranslation of the doctor's orders caused his mother to take the wrong amount of medicine. The error didn't cause lasting harm, but it's exactly the kind of problem California medical officials want to correct.
The use of children as medical interpreters is a common practice in immigrant-rich states. Yet recent research has described the potentially lethal consequences of faulty translations.
Now California is considering rules that would prevent children from interpreting at private hospitals, doctors' offices, or clinics except in emergencies.
This month, the California Department of Managed Health Care is holding hearings on the proposed regulations. A group representing the state's largest managed care plans estimates the bold proposal to hire qualified translators could cost $15 million.
California would be the first state to implement such a wide-ranging ban, said Mara Youdelman, a lawyer with the National Health Law Program in Washington. Other states have restrictions, but none would go as far as California's proposal. Rhode Island, for example, requires all hospitals to provide interpreters older than 16, but the rule does not extend to doctor's offices or clinics.
Specialists say children lack the vocabulary and emotional maturity to serve as effective interpreters. In a state in which 40 percent of the population speaks a language other than English at home, policy makers say California could set a national precedent.
Who will pay for those services is expected to be a key point of debate.
Many hospitals already are using less expensive alternatives, such as telephone or video interpreter services. But the healthcare industry says the new rules could raise the cost for everyone.
If approved, the rules could take effect in March and would require private health plans to provide patients with trained, adult interpreters.
The rules also concern physicians who could be forced to end services to immigrants who don't speak English, said Tom Riley, director of government relations at the California Academy of Family Physicians, which represents family doctors.
The estimated $15 million in costs doesn't include the cost of a proposed measure that would prevent children from translating for their parents at hospitals and clinics that get public funding.
''I was extremely uncomfortable when my parents asked me to interpret for them," said state Assemblyman Leland Yee, the Los Angeles Democrat who proposed the bill. Yee's parents spoke Cantonese. ''We have got to understand that it is not an appropriate role for children."
Support for a prohibition against child interpreters is not universal. State Senator Abel Maldonado, a Santa Maria Republican, said there should be a place in the healthcare system for children to translate for their parents, if that's what the family wants.
