While you're down at the drug store picking up toothpaste and sleeping pills, why not have your DNA tested? Walgreens says that this month it will become the first drug store to offer personal genomics tests in its store. For the low, low price of $20-30 you can pick up a kit to take a sample of your own saliva, which you mail off to Pathway Genomics, a company partnering with Walgreens.
Customers can then go Pathway's Web site and order tests. Pathway says the tests — for drug response, "pre-pregnancy planning" and "health conditions" — start at $79 and run up to $249 for all three [AP].
With the personal genomics trend continuing to accelerate, this was perhaps an inevitable development. But the fact that personal tests are going into drug stores doesn't mean that personal tests are as readily reliable or regulated as the rest of the tests and medications that fill the aisles. 1. The FDA is not pleased. The Pathway test has not been approved by the Federal Drug Administration. In a statement after announcing this deal, Walgreens washed their hands of responsibility in this regard, saying Pathway assured them that the product didn't require FDA approval. The FDA, however, does not agree.
