2.1. Genomic and Personalized Medicine Challenges
Despite the great promise of the clinical use of genomics, many obstacles lie in the way of integrating genomic and personalized medicine into routine clinical care. These challenges include the need for greater oversight and quality assurance of genetic testing (Phillips et al., 2001). There are limited availability of rigorous, prospectively collected evidence on the clinical value and cost effectiveness of genetic and genomic assays (Khoury, Gwinn, Yoon, Dowling, Moore, & Bradley, 2007; Khoury et al., 2007). That concern among pharmaceutical companies that the tailoring of pharmaceuticals to genetic sub-populations may segment the marketplace and reduce the number of patients for whom a given medication is indicated and prescribed (Ginsburg, Konstance, Allsbrook, & Schulman, 2005). More over the limited knowledge of, and comfort with, genetics and genomics among health-care professionals (Kawamoto, Lobach, Willard, & Ginsburg, n.d.).