Foreign language barriers, which are easily overcome with the help of competent medical interpreters, can cause various problems when they are ignored in a medical setting. According to medical malpractice theory, a physician may be held liable if his inability to adequately communicate with a patient prevents him from obtaining proper informed consent. This line of legal liability stretches from the Quintero v. Encarnacion case. In this case, the patient was only able to communicate using a few Spanish words.
