Using a swab inside the cheek and a sophisticated computer algorithm, a DNA test recently approved by federal regulators promisesto assess genetic risk of opioid addiction. The test’s maker says results give doctors and patients a crucial tool when considering use of the very pain pills that ignited the nation’s opioid crisis.
But as the company, SOLVD Health, prepares to roll out AvertD in coming months, skeptics remain unconvinced. They worry that patients shown to have a low risk of addiction may feel emboldened to pop pain pills — then get hooked. Or that doctors will deny painkillers to patients errantly deemed at elevated risk.
Above all, some geneticists and public health experts say AvertD relies on unsound science. The Food and Drug Administration approved the AvertD cheek-swab test in December, despite an agency committee of experts voting overwhelmingly, 11-2, against recommending approval.To read the full story.
Using a swab inside the cheek and a sophisticated computer algorithm, a DNA test recently approved by federal regulators promises to assess genetic risk of opioid addiction. The test’s maker says results give doctors and patients a crucial tool when considering use of the very pain pills that ignited the nation’s opioid crisis.