Welcome to our Friday FOCUS on Pharmacogenetics 
Each Friday we will post new and relevant information regarding Pharmacogenetics. We hope you will find this useful and pass along to colleagues. If you should have any questions regarding pharmacogenetics, please feel free to reach out to us at PGx Medical, info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112.
Medication Management in LTC:
You’ve seen the statistics: it is estimated there are 100,000 deaths and upwards of two million serious adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in the United States each year related to prescription drug use, costing the healthcare industry in excess of $136 billion annually according to the Food and Drug Administration. Older individuals are particularly at risk for ADRs due to polypharmacy, co-morbidities and a host of age-related variables and physiological changes that alter drug absorption and metabolism.
Genetic factors can also have a significant influence on drug response, which is estimated to account for 20 to 40 percent of inter-individual differences in drug metabolism and response. Patients with specific genetic variations are at increased risk from taking many widely prescribed drugs such as common anticoagulants, pain medications and antipsychotics.
Advances in precision medicine are helping to address this public health concern through the use of pharmacogenomics (PGx) testing to preemptively identify drug response based on a patient’s genetic makeup. In a growing number of hospitals and health systems, patients now undergo PGx testing as part of routine patient care, enabling physicians to ensure the safest, most effective medications are prescribed to every patient, reducing trial and error prescribing and improving treatment outcomes.
The benefits of PGx testing and drug-gene decision support for long-term care (LTC) populations with polypharmacy is considerable. Half of all nursing home residents take nine or more medications per day and experience a disproportionate number of medication-related issues, according to the National Institutes of Health. The lifetime value of PGx testing is greatest in adults and the elderly who have the highest clinical risk for experiencing an adverse event
For more information on pharmacogenetics, contact PGx Medical at info@pgxmed.com or 405-509-5112.
Source: iadvanceseniorcare