Pharmacogenomics and the Challenge of Health Disparities

Vol. 12, No. 3, 2009

Free Abstract Article (Fulltext) Article (PDF 221 KB)

Paper

Pharmacogenomics and the Challenge of Health Disparities
S.S. Lee

Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford University Medical School, Palo Alto, Calif., USA

Address of Corresponding Author

Public Health Genomics 2009;12:170-179 (DOI: 10.1159/000189630)

Key Words

Genetics
Health disparities
Pharmacogenomics
Population genetics
Race

Abstract

This paper examines emerging technologies and recent research on population differences in pharmacogenomics and the perspectives of scientists, community advocates, policymakers, and social critics on the use of race as a proxy for genetic variation. The discussion focuses on how recent developments in genomic science impact social understandings of racial difference and the public health goal to eliminate ongoing health disparities among racially identified groups. This paper examines how factors such as governmental policies - requiring the use of racial and ethnic categories in genetic research and increasing interest in identifying untapped racial market niches by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries - and weak governmental oversight of race-based therapeutics converge to create an 'infrastructure of racialization' that may alter the vision of personalized medicine that has been so highly anticipated. This paper argues that significant public investment in pharmacogenomics requires careful consideration of the emerging discourse that tethers racial justice to notions of racial biology and discusses the social and ethical implications for the pendulum shift towards a geneticization of race in drug development.

Author Contacts

Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, PhD
Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics
Stanford University Medical School
701 Welch Road, Bldg. A, Suite 1105, Palo Alto, CA 94304-1703 (USA)
Tel. +1 650 498 7426, Fax +1 650 725 6131, E-Mail sandra.lee@stanford.edu

Article Information

Published online: February 10, 2009
Number of Print Pages : 10
Number of Figures : 0, Number of Tables : 0, Number of References : 48

Medline Abstract (ID 19204420)

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Public Health Genomics
is the continuation of
Community Genetics

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