The Fourth Cause

Today is National Adverse Drug Event Awareness Day.

One of the many reasons I decided to pursue a career in pharmacogenomics (PGx) is because of the benefit that PGx testing can provide to patients.??

Adverse events are the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.

46 million adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are reported each year.?

Those ADRs lead to?

• 1.3 million visits to the emergency room
• over 2 million hospital admissions
• 3.5 million physician office visits, and?
• $136 billion in US healthcare costs

ADEs are the #1 most costly hospital-acquired condition.?

THE GOOD NEWS: they are also the #1 most preventable hospital-acquired condition.

How do we prevent these ADEs?

One way is to use genetic testing to provide patients with a personalized medication plan.?

Therefore, we can reduce or eliminate the trial-and-error process that is currently being used.

Let’s get our patients on the right medication at the right dose, hopefully the first time.?

Since studies show that up to 99 percent of the population has at least one genetic variation that may influence their response to medications, PGx testing should be the standard of care.

We have the tools and technology to decrease ADEs.

Now, we just have to use it.

That's why I created Tarheel PGx Consulting .

I wanted to be able to help people know ahead of time which medications they should or should not take.

I don't want people to try a medication that may cause them harm or death.

Another way to help our patients is to support the Right Drug Dose Now Act.

You can sign your support as an organization and/or as an individual.

The purpose of this act is to “kickstart a coordinated, federal effort to reduce the rates of adverse drug events and increase the use of pharmacogenomic information”.

The Right Act will be “important legislation to advance precision medicine and improve the quality of care for all Americans, including those in rural and underserved communities”.

I've signed on behalf of myself and my business.

Will you join me in supporting the Right Act? Click here to show your support.

Let's help get adverse drug effects off the top 10 list of causes of death!

-Melissa

Reference: https://fourthcause.org/