As drug therapy experts, pharmacists are in a unique position to push the frontiers of pharmacogenetics in both the research and clinical practice environments.
Pharmacists are the logical information nexus to bring together information on patient health, medications being taken or considered, and potential genetic interaction with those medications.
In an attempt to avoid the adverse effects of drugs, or to ensure their efficacy, there is a growing capacity to connect individual differences in biochemistry causing these differences directly with personal genetic variations. More than 100 drugs now carry FDA pharmacogenetic information on the label, and this labeling trend will certainly grow. The application of such knowledge can be critical to a patient’s health, an application that requires testing and interpretation relative to medication. Pharmacogenetics may soon become common in pharmacy practice.
Community pharmacists are integral to patient care through MTM. Because of the relationships they have with patients, pharmacists are poised to assume the role of obtaining samples and providing clinical pharmacy services in response to pharmacogenetic test results. In fact, it is a natural extension of the MTM rubric for pharmacists to include the results of pharmacogenetic tests or the recommendation to test. ~pharmacist.com~
The field of pharmacogenetics presents a wide range of opportunities for pharmacists. Specific roles for pharmacists are likely to fall within three major domains: developing research methodologies and setting research directions, establishing the value of pharmacogenetic testing in clinical practice, and participating in education and infrastructure development that moves pharmacogenetic technologies toward implementation. ~JAPhA.com~
For more information on Pharmacogenetic Testing, contact:
PGx Medical
Individualized Care – Personalized Medicine
405-509-5112
info@pgxmed.com