Adverse Drug Events - The Third Cause

Adverse drug events (ADEs) have advanced to the third leading cause of death in the United States.

ADEs include prescribing errors, prescription drug overdoses, prescription drug misuse, drug-drug interactions, and adverse drug reactions.

It is estimated that ADEs are associated with approximately 250,000 - 300,000 deaths in the US per year.

Since an individual's response to many medications is genetically predetermined...

• Utilization of pharmacogenetic testing allows personalization of medication selection and dosing such that medications are optimized and adverse reactions are reduced.

A recent UK study by Magavern et al (PLOS Medicine, March 2025) reviewed 1,345,712 adverse drug reaction reports and determined that 9% were potentially avoidable if pharmacogenomic guidance had been utilized.

The PREPARE trial demonstrated that pharmacogenetic testing and guidelines has the potential to reduce adverse drug reactions by 30%.

The Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) suggests that approximately 11% of adverse drug reactions may be mitigated through the implementation of pharmacogenetic testing and use of established drug-gene pair guidelines.

Pharmacogenetic testing and use of established guidelines are tools that can assist healthcare professionals and patients in improving medication safety and preventing medication related adverse events.

The timing could not be more critical to implement these tools that have the potential to save and improve lives.