Legal pressures and incentives for personalized medicine

Legal liability has the potential to be a powerful driver pushing implementation of personalized medicine. Individuals injured by adverse drug effects are increasingly likely to bring lawsuits alleging that they have a polymorphism or biomarker conferring susceptibility to the drug that should have been identified and used to alter their drug treatment. Likely targets of such lawsuits include drug manufacturers, third party payors, physicians and pharmacists, of which physicians are most at risk of substantial liability.