Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • EELS (Ethical Economic Legal and Social) Article
  • Published:

EELS (Ethical, Economic, Legal & Social) Article

Pharmacogenetics: the ethical issues

The Pharmacogenomics Journal volume 3, pages 14–16 (2003)Cite this article

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has issued a consultation on ethical issues raised by developments in pharmacogenetics. The potential of using pharmacogenetic information to improve the efficacy and safety of prescribing medicines is clear. Some have even made the optimistic claim that personalised medicine — ‘the right medicine, for the right patient, at the right dose’ — will only be a matter of time. However, both research in pharmacogenetics and its applications raise ethical, legal, social and regulatory issues which is important to consider now.

Issues in pharmacogenetics that need to be addressed include the implications for the cost and availability of medicines, the use and storage of genetic information obtained for pharmacogenetic analysis, and the possible stratification of patient groups on the basis of genetic information. The Nuffield Council has established a Working Party to consider these issues (see Box 1). As part of its deliberations, the Working Party is holding a consultation with the public. Interested individuals and organisations are invited to contribute their views about the implications of pharmacogenetics for the pharmaceutical industry, providers of healthcare and individual patients.

Table 1 Box 1
Full size table

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Tollyma P, Guy P et al. A Revolution in R&D. Boston Consulting Group: Boston, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Weber W . Pharmacogenetics. Oxford Press: Oxford, 1997.

  3. See for example Genetic Screening (Nuffield Council on Bioethics, 1993) and Inside Information (Human Genetics Commission, 2002).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Bedford Square, London, UK

    P Lipton

Authors
  1. P Lipton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P Lipton.

Additional information

DUALITY OF INTEREST

None declared.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lipton, P. Pharmacogenetics: the ethical issues. Pharmacogenomics J 3, 14–16 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.tpj.6500159

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.tpj.6500159

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links