If Chuck Dushman were given Plavix, a blood thinner often given to people who have undergone the placement of a stent in a coronary artery, he would be at high risk of becoming a statistic: one of the 2 million Americans who suffer adverse drug reactions each year.
โฆ
[Dushman] is vice president of Rxight, a company that does pharmacogenetic testing that can identify how a personโs body will react to about 280 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter.โฆ
Taking medication without getting genetic testing done is โlike playing Russian roulette,โ [Todd Troxell, a Jacksonville pharmacist] said.
Share this article
Customers who chose to get the testing done swab the inside of their cheeks. The swab is then sent to Rxightโs labs. Detailed results are then returned to Troxell, who goes over the results with each customer. The report indicates which drugs are likely to be effective, which drugs may not be effective and which drugs are potentially dangerous to a patient.
โฆ
Many commonly prescribed drugs are either ineffective or dangerous to surprisingly large groups of people: 38 percent wonโt respond to any anti-depressant; 40 percent wonโt respond to asthma medications; 30 percent of people, like [Dushman], are at risk if given Plavix.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Rxight genetic test can help identify which drugs are ineffective or dangerous to people taking them
