Prescription drugs ‘should be matched to DNA profiles’

Genetic testing would save the Australian economy around $2.4 billion that is “wasted every year” on unsafe and ineffective drug prescriptions, an Adelaide medical academic has said.

Vijay Suppiah, a pharmacy lecturer at the University of South Australia, says that pharmacogenetic testing, known as PGx, can ensure that patients are prescribed drugs that suit their specific DNA profile.

In an editorial published in the Australian Journal of Primary Health, he says that genetics play “a large role in whether a specific drug will work or not, or even have adverse side effects”.