“Personalized medicine” expected to get major push from Obama administration

The AP (11/29, Alonso-Zaldivar) reported that the "pursuit of 'personalized medicine' is expected to get a major push from the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama." The President-elect is "interested in the role that personalized medicine could play as an element of changes in the broader healthcare system." For example, "varying responses to medications" among patients "may be linked to differences in genetic makeup that affect how the body processes a drug." While he was a senator, the President-elect "introduced legislation to coordinate the sometimes conflicting policies of government agencies and provide more support for private research." Now, Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) "has introduced legislation in the House that builds on Obama's." Kennedy's legislation "would direct Medicare to set a fixed policy for coverage of genetic tests and treatments." The President-elect has also "proposed a 100 percent tax credit for private research to develop diagnostic tests that can predict the safety and effectiveness of certain high-profile drugs."