The Regulatory, Economic, and Privacy Implications of Pharmacogenomics

The Virginia Journal of Law and Technology (VJOLT) is a student-run publication of the University of Virginia School of Law. It is one of the Law School's newest, and most dynamic, journals. VJOLT was established in 1996 by students who sought to enhance the focus at the Law School on issues arising from the intersection of law and technology. An interested and energetic group of students founded VJOLT, and Virginia thus joined the ranks of Harvard, Boalt Hall, Columbia, and other top law schools with technology journals.

The Current issue Volume 10 - Issue 1 - Winter 2005 has a paper about privacy and Pharmacogenomics, "The Regulatory, Economic, and Privacy Implications of Pharmacogenomics"by Patricia M. Festin.

The Human Genome Project was a seminal achievement that launched a revolution in science. This revolution is significantly impacting the pharmaceutical industry and drug discovery research. Pharmacogenomics—the study of how genetic differences influence the variability in patients' responses to drugs—complicates our understanding of the economic, regulatory, and policy issues that plague both the pharmaceutical industry and the social and legal mechanisms governing drug-related health care. This Article surveys the debate surrounding these challenges