Pharmacogenomics, ethics, and public policy.
The advent of pharmacogenomics--the study of how the human genome influences drug response within a person or population--has begun to drive the development of pharmaceuticals in Western medicine today. Although pharmacogenomics promises dramatic improvement in drug safety and efficacy, the field also raises a host of ethical questions. The need to protect informed consent and confidentiality and to promote justice and equity--both nationally and globally--requires that one approach pharmacogenomics with an enthusiastic, yet critical, eye. Drawing on the normative values of respect for persons (as both autonomous and relational), human well-being, socioeconomic justice, and human solidarity and the common good, this article offers several concrete suggestions for public policy to help ensure that pharmacogenomics develops in a way that promotes the good of both individuals and the broader society.
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University, CA, USA.
Karen
K
Peterson-Iyer
D003219:Confidentiality; D003906:Developing Countries; D004345:Drug Industry; D005006:Ethnicity; D030661:Genetic Privacy; D036281:Genetic Research / Q000941:ethics*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D008913:Minority Groups; D009965:Orphan Drug Production; D010330:Patents as Topic; D010597:Pharmacogenetics / Q000941:ethics*; D011358:Product Surveillance, Postmarketing; D011640:Public Policy; D035842:Research Subjects; D012935:Social Justice; D014481:United States