In the United States, 78 million people, about 26% of the population, have a Neuro-psychiatric condition consisting of anxiety, mood, impulse control, or substance disorder according to the National Comorbidity Survey and Kessler et al. Those seeking treatment have varying reactions to drug therapy because of differing lifestyle factors, levels of adherence to medical regimens and their specific genetic makeup and how their body metabolizes medications.
According to The Journal of the American Medical Association, these uncontrollable factors contribute to approximately 2.2 million serious adverse drug reactions per year and more than 100,000 deaths. The economic impact to healthcare systems for adverse drug reaction morbidity and mortality totaled more than $177 billion in 2000 according to the Ernst et al., cost-of-illness model.
Why Pharmacogenetic Testing
If physicians could unlock genetic differences hidden in human DNA, they could make better medication choices for each individual patient. Pharmacogenetic testing could drastically help lower the morbidity and mortality rate from adverse drug reactions and lessen the financial burden on healthcare systems. If individual patients received the right drug at the right dose, side effects would be reduced or eliminated and patient hospitalization and inpatient stays would decrease.
Diamond Healthcare Corporation is excited to be part of this revolutionary technology. As a strategic business partner with AssureRx, LLC, a personalized medicine company, Diamond will help bring this technology to the behavioral healthcare marketplace.
How Pharmacogenetic Testing Works
The diagnostic test enables the clinician of a patient with a Neuro-psychiatric condition to send the patient’s DNA to an AssureRx lab. At the lab it is analyzed, set in an algorithm and translated into a report. The clinician receives a report within 48 hours that is easy to read and helps the clinician select the right drug at the right dose, drastically reducing the trial and error period.
Who is AssureRX
AssureRx, LLC, is a personalized medicine company dedicated to helping physicians determine the right drug at the right dose for individual patients suffering from a range of medical conditions. The company was founded in June 2006 to license and commercialize the industry-leading personalized medicine technology of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the Mayo Clinic. The proprietary technology is based on pharmacogenetics – the study of the genetic factors that influence an individual’s response to drug treatments – as well as evidence-based medicine and clinical pharmacology.
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