BMJ  2005;330:1508 (25 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7506.1508-a

Letter

Pharmacogenetics and ethnically targeted therapies

Racial drugs need to be put in context

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Rahemtulla and Bhopal focus on the heart failure drug BiDil to explore the "resurgence of the role of biology in concepts of race and ethnicity."¹ BiDil, a combination of two generic drugs (hydralazine and isosorbide dinitrate) that have been used for years to treat heart failure, is currently undergoing review by the US Food and Drug Administration for approval as the first ever drug with a race specific indication—to treat heart failure in African-Americans.

The authors assert that the major implication of BiDil is that differential responses to treatment between racial groups are attributed primarily to genetic differences. Unfortunately, this is precisely not the major medical implication of BiDil, but rather the major popular misreading of BiDil. The A-HeFT trials, on which the BiDil submission is based, enrolled only self identified African-Americans.² There was no comparison population, therefore the results say nothing about whether BiDil works differently or . . . [Full text of this article]

Hamline University School of Law, 1526 Hewitt Avenue, St Paul, MN 55104, USA jkahn01@hamline.edu

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Relevant Article

Pharmacogenetics and ethnically targeted therapies

Taslin Rahemtulla and Raj Bhopal
BMJ 2005 330: 1036-1037. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Bibbins-Domingo, K., Fernandez, A. (2007). BiDil for Heart Failure in Black Patients: Implications of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Approval. ANN INTERN MED 146: 52-56 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Davies, S. M. (2006). Pharmacogenetics, Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine: Are We There Yet?. ASH Education Book 2006: 111-117 [Abstract] [Full text]  

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