Abstract
Pharmacogenomics, also known as pharmacogenetics, is a practice and study that combines two long-standing disciplines, which are pharmacology and genomics, to determine how a person or population’s genetic makeup affects or can be used to measure that person’s or population’s therapeutic response. Notably, pharmacogenomics helps clinicians, including pharmacists, tailor medications and/or therapeutic dosing regimens to a person’s or population’s genetic makeup. This chapter provides an overview of the pharmacogenomic testing and therapeutics landscape, discusses direct-to-consumer (D2C) pharmacogenomic testing market and its impact on clinical practice, and summarizes evidence on the clinical relevance and actionability of D2C pharmacogenomic testing. The chapter also highlights evidence on clinician, pharmacy trainee, and patient consumer experiences and perspectives regarding D2C pharmacogenomic testing. Lastly, key ethical, legal, and social implications and policy considerations are described, lending the view that the overall utility of D2C pharmacogenomic testing should be considered in light of efforts to address these issues.
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Acknowledgments
Gratitude is extended to Betty Cohn at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and Matt D’Ambrosio at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy for their literature search and reference management assistance in support of the analysis and writing activities for this chapter.
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Hendricks-Sturrup, R.M., Lu, C.Y. (2023). Evidence on the Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Pharmacogenetic Testing. In: Encyclopedia of Evidence in Pharmaceutical Public Health and Health Services Research in Pharmacy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50247-8_95-1
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