- Phil Ashman
On March 12, 2010,
the FDA announced
that they are adding
a black box warning
to the
Plavix label to
advise physicians of
the
importance of
genetics and the
availability
of testing.
"I recovered from a minor heart attack and was prescribed Plavix (clopidogrel) to reduce my risk of having another heart attack. I wanted to do everything possible to make sure my treatment was successful because I did not want put myself or my family through another major medical ordeal. That's when I heard about Plavitest."
Plavitest is a DNA test that includes a computerized review of all the medicines you are taking that helps your doctor optimize your chances of success with Plavix (clopidogrel).
"I asked my doctor to prescribe Plavitest and received a kit in the mail."
The Plavitest kit includes cheek swabs, prepaid return shipping, and simple directions to collect and send in your sample.
"When my doctor reviewed the results, he told me that I tested partially negative for a gene called CYP2C19 (pronounced sip two C nineteen) which is required for Plavix to work."
One-third of patients with a variation in this gene are at a 3.58 times greater risk of having a major cardiac event such as a heart attack or stroke with a standard Plavix dosing protocol.
"Based on Plavitest, my physician increased my Plavix dose so I would have enough of the medication to make it effective."
Phil's doctor then logged into his drug management account in the GeneMedRx software to view his Plavitest DNA test results. GeneMedRx allows physicians to analyze the DNA test results against all of a patient's medicines, including any non-prescription drugs, herbal preparations or other factors that could affect the success of Plavix (clopidogrel) treatment.
"GeneMedRx also helped my doctor find out that the combination of medicines I was taking might be causing bad side effects."
In using this program, Phil's physician discovered that one of his antidepressants was interfering with his already reduced CYP2C19 activity and by changing the antidepressant Phil's chances of success with Plavix (clopidogrel) treatment could be substantially increased.
*Plavix is a registered trademark of SANOFI-AVENTIS CORPORATION, and is not asssociated with Genelex Corporation.
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