This story brings to light how dangerous illiteracy can be to a person’s health. Roughly 30 million adults read at below basic levels; 11 million of those basically can’t read at all. This has a profound effect on their ability to understand their medical conditions and follow their doctors’ orders. For these people, even knowing how much to take and when to take their medications can be confounding. The story documents case after case of people adversely affected because they couldn’t read well enough to carry out their doctor’s orders. Some experts now refer to literacy as “the newest vital sign.”
