One example of a medicine that is subject to race-based prescribing is angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors: ACE inhibiters are not frequently prescribed to back patients because research shows they are less effective in black patients than white patients. According to the study authors, basing prescriptions on race may mean a black patient whose hypertension would have responded to an ACE inhibitor may not even be offered the treatment.
“What we even mean by race has always been murky and is becoming even more so given changing demographics,” said Dr. Royal. The authors continue, “Prescribing medications on the basis of race oversimplifies the complexities and interplay of ancestry, health, disease and drug response.”
Precision medicine, unlike race-based drug prescribing, will allow clinicians to treat patients based on their unique genetic makeup, lifestyle, environment and other factors.
“Precision medicine is premised on the idea of improving health outcomes by generating and using many sources of personal data to more accurately group and treat patients,” the authors wrote. “If the major challenges can be overcome, precision medicine could lead the way in reducing and ultimately eliminating the use of crude racial and ethnic census categories in drug prescribing.”
More articles on precision medicine:
HHS releases final data security principles for Precision Medicine Initiative
HIPAA doesn’t apply to Precision Medicine Initiative, sparking privacy concerns
Patient outcomes see measurable effects from precision medicine: 5 study findings
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