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  • EELS (Ethical Economic Legal and Social) Article
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EELS (Ethical, Economic, Legal & Social) Article

Pharmacogenomics and the challenge to privacy

The Pharmacogenomics Journal volume 2, pages 144–147 (2002)Cite this article

Pharmacogenomics is an emerging discipline that defines patterns of genetic polymorphism, which account for the variations in human response to drugs. These responses cover the gamut from ‘no effect’ to ‘normal’ response to ‘tolerable’ side effects to severe, even fatal adverse reactions. The ultimate goal of pharmacogenomics is to tailor pharmacologic treatments to the genetic makeup of the individual, thus allowing personalized care with maximal therapeutic drug response and minimal adverse reactions. This process is predicted to streamline drug design (through better quality targets, lower attrition rates, smaller clinical trials and faster approval), and profoundly alter prescription practices (through inclusion of genetic tests in the selection of medications and dosing).

Pharmacogenomics is related to, yet distinct from pharmacogenetics, a discipline that started in the 1950s to study inherited differences in drug absorption, metabolism and elimination.1 Since its inception pharmacogenetics has been necessarily limited by the available technology to circumscribed, ‘keyhole’ views of an individual's genetic makeup. Inherited variations in drug metabolism are usually monogenic. For example, one out of every 300 patients is homozygous for loss-of-function alleles of thiopurine methyl-transferase (TPMT) and will develop acute myelosuppression in response to azathioprine treatment.2 Such observations, when validated for routine clinical use, are a natural extension of current clinical protocols. These data fit seamlessly into existing medical records and can be protected within the existing framework of ensuring confidentiality of medical records.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA

    L T Vaszar, G D Rosen & T A Raffin

  2. Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics, Program in Genomics, Ethics, and Society, Stanford, USA

    T A Raffin

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  1. L T Vaszar
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  2. G D Rosen
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  3. T A Raffin
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Correspondence to L T Vaszar.

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Vaszar, L., Rosen, G. & Raffin, T. Pharmacogenomics and the challenge to privacy. Pharmacogenomics J 2, 144–147 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.tpj.6500110

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