Bilingual Warnings Rejected by Justices : Law: Drug firms do not have to print labels in other languages unless Legislature requires it, high court rules. Case involved a boy with Reye’s syndrome who was given aspirin by his Spanish-speaking mother.

Wading into the debate over the rights of U.S. consumers who do not speak English, the state Supreme Court on Thursday said manufacturers of non-prescription drugs need not print label warnings in foreign languages.

The decision came in the case of Jorge Ramirez, a Modesto boy who contracted Reye’s syndrome after his Spanish-speaking mother gave him St. Joseph’s Aspirin for Children when he had a cold in 1986.

Jorge, now 8, is blind, mentally impaired and a quadriplegic because of the syndrome, which federal studies have linked with the ingestion of aspirin during a viral illness.

Attorneys for the child alleged that the aspirin’s manufacturer was negligent because it failed to warn consumers of Reye’s syndrome in Spanish--despite advertising its product in Spanish-language media.

But the court, in a unanimous decision, said that neither state nor federal law required the Memphis-based company, Schering-Plough HealthCare Products, to print warnings in any language other than English.

“We recognize that if a Spanish language warning had accompanied (the) product, and if (Jorge’s) mother had read and heeded the warning, the tragic blighting of a young and innocent life . . . might not have occurred,” Justice Joyce L. Kennard wrote for the court.

Nevertheless, she added, defining the lengths to which manufacturers must go to warn consumers is a task that belongs with the state Legislature, which has proven itself “able and willing” to make such requirements in other contexts.

Robert Davis, the Chico attorney who represented Jorge, said he was very disappointed with the content of the court’s decision and the fact that it will bar him from taking the case to a jury.

“It’s really a shame,” said Davis, adding that his client requires 24-hour care. “I don’t think there’s anything else we can do.”

Attorney Edward Chen of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a legal brief on Jorge’s behalf, chided the court for “abdicating its responsibility” to protect non-English speaking citizens.

“The court has essentially punted this whole issue to the Legislature,” Chen said. The decision, he added, leaves consumers who speak foreign languages at risk unless regulatory agencies or legislative bodies take action.

A vice president of Schering-Plough said the company is pleased with the decision. In a statement, Lewis Nolan said “the court correctly recognized the importance of the FDA regulatory process and the state Legislature’s role in determining if there should be any deviation from present English-language labeling requirements for non-prescription drugs.”

The case dates to March, 1986, when Jorge--then 4 months old--contracted a cold and fever. His mother, a longtime user of St. Joseph’s products, gave her son three orange-flavored tablets--the same treatment she had used on her other children.

Two days later, Jorge suffered a seizure and was diagnosed with Reye’s syndrome, a potentially fatal neurological disorder.

Jorge’s attorneys argued that the company had a duty to warn his mother of Reye’s syndrome in her native language, particularly because its marketing targeted Spanish-speaking communities believed to have a special fondness for St. Joseph’s products.

The company responded that such a requirement would subject manufacturers to an unreasonable burden, forcing them to translate packaging labels into the 140 languages spoken in the United States.