Health care providers may find reason to celebrate after a recent announcement by the agency that oversees the federal Meaningful Use requirements. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in late January that they intend to “engage in rulemaking” this spring to update the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs, more commonly referred to as … Read More
Case Report: Muscle weakness in both father and son after statin therapy suggests genetic link
A 48-year man came to his cardiologist for an unscheduled visit complaining of worsening muscle pain and weakness in his arms and legs. He was finding it hard to exercise and even climb stairs. Two weeks before, the man had been fitted with a stent in his right coronary artery after he showed signs of coronary artery disease and put … Read More
Flawed studies informed recommendations against CYP2D6 testing for tamoxifen treatment, new study finds
A recent Mayo Clinic study has found that clinical recommendations discouraging the use of CYP2D6 genetic testing to advise tamoxifen treatment in women with breast cancer should be reconsidered because some of the studies the recommendations were based on had flawed methodology. The article, published in the January issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found that some … Read More
What President Obama’s precision medicine push could mean for the field of pharmacogenomics
By Josh Schwartz Each year the President of the United States goes before Congress to present a report on the State of the Union. The range of topics covered in this address is typically quite broad, but one of the president’s newest initiatives stood out among the others: Precision Medicine. In between talking about how to create more jobs in … Read More
Falls among elderly increase over 12-year period
One of the most serious health concerns for the elderly seems to be becoming more common. A recent study out of the University of Michigan has found that self-reported falls among Americans 65 years and older increased by about 8 percent between 1998 and 2000. The researchers report that a greater increase in falls was seen than what would have … Read More
More research needed to find genetic link to depression risk
Parsing out the genetic underpinnings of depression remains a challenge for researchers, despite the rise in the number of studies focusing on the human genome, the authors of a new scientific review article report. The researchers behind the article, published in the January issue of the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, reviewed a number of studies on the genetic link to … Read More
Genelex announces new genetic testing options
Genelex is excited to announce the next chapter in the company’s ongoing mission to improve patient care and reduce adverse drug events. Genelex is unveiling five new panels and 17 new genetic testing options to augment our existing panel of six tests that form the core of the YouScript Personalized Prescribing System. In conjunction with the YouScript Personalized Prescribing software, … Read More
More older Americans have chronic conditions compared to foreign counterparts, survey finds
An international survey of more than 10,000 adults age 65 or older has found that more Americans had multiple chronic conditions and took four or more prescription drugs than their age mates in 10 other countries. The survey, the results of which were published in a paper in the December issue of the journal Health Affairs, found that 68 percent … Read More
Study: Falls more common among older adults with pain
Recurrent falls were more than twice as common in elderly people suffering from pain than those who were not, according to the results of a recent study. The article, published in the October issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, found that 19.5 percent of adults 65 and older who reported bothersome pain in the last month also … Read More
The Pharmacist’s Corner: Clopidogrel dosing and genetic variations
By Rachel Sass, PharmD Should providers increase the clopidogrel dose in patients with decreased functioning CYP2C19 enzymes? Clopidogrel (Plavix) is one of the most well studied medications in pharmacogenetics. Clopidogrel is a prodrug, meaning that it needs to be converted to an active metabolite in the body to have an effect. This metabolizing process occurs in part via the polymorphic … Read More