Abstract
The aim of our research was to collect comprehensive data about the public and physician awareness, acceptance and use of Personalized Medicine (PM), as well as their opinions on PM reimbursement and genetic privacy protection in the U.S. and Germany. In order to give a better overview, we compared our survey results with the results from other studies and discussed Personalized Medicine preconditions for its wide implementation into the medical standard. For the data collection, using the same methodology, we performed several surveys in Pennsylvania (U.S.) and Bavaria (Germany). Physicians were contacted via letter, while public representatives in person. Survey results, analyzed by means of descriptive and non-parametric statistic methods, have shown that awareness, acceptance, use and opinions on PM aspects in Pennsylvania and Bavaria were not significantly different. In both states there were strong concerns about genetic privacy protection and no support of one genetic database. The costs for Personalized Medicine were expected to be covered by health insurances and governmental funds. Summarizing, we came to the conclusion that for PM wide implementation there will be need to adjust the healthcare reimbursement system, as well as adopt new laws which protect against genetic misuse and simultaneously enable voluntary data provision.
Highlights
The successful completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP) in 2003 [1] and the fast decreasing human genome sequencing costs [2] encouraged the development of a new medical approach which is called Personalized Medicine (PM)
There were only a small number of the public participants who stated to be under the treatment of serious illnesses relevant for Personalized Medicine—like cancer, diabetes, asthma, depression, etc
Our survey results have shown that the majority of the public in Pennsylvania and Bavaria have heard of personalized therapy and genetic tests
Summary
The successful completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP) in 2003 [1] and the fast decreasing human genome sequencing costs [2] encouraged the development of a new medical approach which is called Personalized Medicine (PM). Medicine as “the use of new methods of molecular analysis to better manage a patient’s disease or predisposition to disease” [3]. Act 2006 explains the term more broadly, namely, as “an application of genomic and molecular data to better target the delivery of healthcare, facilitate the discovery and clinical testing of new products, and help determine patient’s predisposition to a particular disease or condition” [6]. The development and market introduction of Personalized Medicine products and services took place in the U.S fast. In this country, the offer of personalized drugs, treatments and diagnostics has increased from 13 in 2006 to 113 in 2014 [7]
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