Dr. Weiss makes the case for personalized medicine
Ronald Weiss, MD, MBA, executive vice president of corporate communication at ARUP Laboratories, discusses the benefits of personalized medicine in the September 18, 2008, Health Affairs blog. Dr. Weiss believes personalized medicine, which encompasses knowledge about diseases and their treatment stemming from the mapping of the human genome, is relevant to many complex health care reform issues, including high costs and patient safety. According to Dr. Weiss, personalized medicine can offer tremendous gains in both cost and quality, but hurdles related to funding, regulation, and reimbursement must be overcome.
- If we provide patients with more targeted therapy—based upon their genomic profile—that is also guided by diagnostic testing, we have clear potential to improve that impact. The economic savings here are also impressive. The costs to the health care system of ineffective therapy have been estimated to reach as much as $1.2 billion for hypertension medications, $4.7 billion for antidepressants, and $8 billion for statins for cardiovascular disease.
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(Health Affairs. “The Case For Personalized Medicine.” September 18, 2008.)