GeneMedRx

How To Protect Yourself and Your Family From Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs)

Genelex has created an online software tool called GeneMedRx to help patients manage their medications and prevent Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs). A personal account is created that lists all medications, Over the counters, herbals, and foods a patient is taking that may cause an ADR. If the patient has DNA testing results, these can also be entered into the program which can predict both potential drug-drug and drug-gene interactions. If an interaction is predicted the report can be printed or emailed to a healthcare provider who can determine if changes in prescribing are needed. The program even offers an alternatives option that lists similar medications not predicted to cause the same interaction.

A subscription to GeneMedRx is only $23.95 per year ($17.95 for each additional family member) and although DNA testing is highly recommended it is not required to make the program useful in improving the management of your healthcare.

Genelex Director of Operations, Kristine Ashcraft explains, "many people install and use safety features in their cars for accident prevention and protection - GeneMedRx is a safety feature for medication. The software gives you and your healthcare providers the tools to better understand the potential risks of taking a particular medication."

Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) are the 4th leading cause of death, claiming the lives of 100,000 Americans per year, more than twice the number claimed in motor vehicle accidents. An additional 2.2 million suffer serious but non-fatal ADRs annually costing billions in added healthcare costs.

What is an ADR?

An adverse drug reaction (ADR) occurs when a prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medicine is taken following FDA-approved dose and labeling recommendations, but the patient still suffers an unexpected serious or significant reaction, injury, toxicity, or sensitivity.

People can react to medications in very different ways. A number of factors - including age, sex, weight, general health, liver function, and most importantly genetics - alter a patient's response to drugs.

Over half of all medications including the majority of medications to treat depression, pain, heart disease, diabetes, epilepsy, and cancer are metabolized by three enzymes in the liver called CYP2D6, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19. Your genes are the main factor determining the level of these enzymes - if you have too much of the enzyme, you process the medication too quickly, too little of the enzyme and the medication builds up in your bloodstream potentially causing adverse reactions or side effects. Approximately half of all Americans have genetic variations that affect these enzyme levels. Without knowing your genetics, your physician may need to go through months of trial-and-error prescribing to find the right drug and dose for you.

Additionally, many prescriptions, OTC medicines, herbals, and foods can interact with each other and increase the risk for an ADR. Unfortunately, known interactions can be overlooked by physicians because they often do not have the time or resources to scan for them. In one study, surveyed physicians only detected 54 percent of potentially fatal drug combinations. In another study, emergency department physicians missed 21 percent of drug interactions that required a change in medical care. Another study showed that even pharmacists can miss interactions—32 percent of pharmacies filled prescriptions simultaneously for two medications that should not be taken together.

These examples are not given to point fingers at medical providers, but to point out what the FDA calls "a major public health problem." Drug interactions are complex and to compound the problem, people often see multiple physicians and fill prescriptions at multiple pharmacies. The only way to get a complete picture that helps medical providers make better, more informed choices about how to treat people is to create a single patient record for medication management.

What are the financial consequences of ADRs?

Drug interactions cause roughly 2.8 percent of all hospitalizations costing the health care system $1.3 billion per year in hospitalizations alone. The problem is so prevalent, that ADRs are the cost leader for malpractice payouts. Additionally, HMOs spend more treating ADRs than they do on drugs. Then of course, there is the unquantifiable cost for lost work hours and decreased quality of life. Even though the financial consequences are dire, the loss of lives to ADRs at a rate of one person every five minutes, is the most urgent reason this problem needs to be addressed.

GeneMedRx gives you and your healthcare providers the tools to better understand the potential risks of taking a particular medication.

Disclaimer: All product descriptions and specifications are made and provided by their respective manufacturers.