With Father’s Day approaching, what better way to celebrate the men you call family and friends than by helping to make sure they take their health seriously? June is National Men’s Health month, a time for men everywhere to focus on the health concerns that most often impact them. For many men this means cardiovascular health, which includes controlling blood … Read More
Clinical decision support drug interaction alerts need overhaul, report finds
A new report recognizes the frustration physicians commonly have with drug-drug interaction (DDI) alerts in clinical decision support software and presents a number of ways they could be improved. “Improving the usability of DDI decision support is essential because patient safety is compromised when clinicians perceive DDI alerts as unimportant because of poor presentation or lack of relevance,” authors Payne … Read More
Mapping the human placebome? Genetics may hold key to placebo effect
Could the reason why the placebo effect works for some people and not others lie in their DNA? The authors of a new scientific review article make the case that, just as an individual’s response to medications is dependent upon their unique genetics, so too could their response to placebos. In the article, authors Hall, Loscalzo and Kaptchuk delve into … Read More
Medicare coverage for specific tests ends June 22
After June 21, Medicare will limit coverage for the core drug-sensitivity genetic tests that comprise YouScript’s Polypharmacy test panel. This means that if you or a loved one are 65 or older and not taking the drugs Plavix, nortriptyline, amitriptyline or Xenazine, you will lose this Medicare benefit. Drug-sensitivity testing, also called pharmacogenetic testing, allows your doctor to know how your … Read More
Genelex-sponsored research awarded at managed care pharmacy conference
Recent research sponsored by Genelex and undertaken by University of Utah researchers has been recognized at the national Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) conference. The research shows that as many as 50 percent of patients 65 and older are taking at least one medication metabolized by a genetically variable drug metabolizing enzyme. The poster for this work, co-presented by Genelex … Read More
The CEO’s Corner: LDTs prove a hot topic at ACLA conference in D.C.
By Howard Coleman, Genelex CEO The week of May 9 saw scores of scientists, researchers and clinical laboratory professionals descend on the nation’s capital for the annual American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA) conference. ACLA serves as a voice in Washington D.C. for clinical laboratories nationwide. A key topic of this year’s conference was the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) … Read More
Medications involved in 1 in 12 child ER visits, study finds
Researchers seeking to fill a knowledge gap in what’s known about the magnitude of pediatric drug-related ER visits have found that 1 in 12 ER trips for children involved medications. What’s more: the researchers found that about two-thirds of these visits were preventable. The authors of the study, published earlier this year in the journal Pediatrics, reported that 8 percent … Read More
Case Report: Common ADHD treatment has reverse effect on 6-year-old boy
Physicians and family taking care of a 6-year-old boy diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) found a common medication used to treat the condition was having the reverse effect. The boy, being treated by providers in Thailand, was described as mischievous, disorderly and restless while at school. He would ignore people around him and even created and spoke his … Read More
Research reveals significant impact of drug-gene and drug-drug-gene interactions
Why do some patients react differently to the same drug? A study using data analyzed by the YouScript Personalized Prescribing Software has quantified the role genotypes may play in causing adverse drug reactions. The research, published in the journal Pharmacogenomics, showed that a combined 33.9 percent of all potential clinically significant drug interactions were due to drug-gene and drug-drug-gene interactions. These potential … Read More
Study strengthens link between gene variants and bleeding risk in warfarin patients
New research offers more evidence for the connection between CYP2C9 and VKORC1 variants and increased bleeding risk in patients taking warfarin. A large-scale study published in the March edition of the Lancet found that atrial fibrillation patients whose CYP2C9 and VKORC1 genetic variations made them highly sensitive to warfarin were nearly three times more likely to experience bleeding than those … Read More