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Genetic testing for patients getting the blood-thinner warfarin gained credibility when the FDA /a> a couple of years back that patients with variations in two genes “may need lower warfarin doses than people without these variations.”

It was a big deal, /a>, because warfarin, while very effective, can cause excess bleeding, sending some patients to the emergency room.

But yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said there wasn’t enough scientific evidence to warrant Medicare paying for the related genetic tests. The agency proposed helping to fund more research instead.

“CMS believes that the available evidence does not demonstrate that pharmacogenomic testing to predict warfarin responsiveness improves health outcomes in Medicare beneficiaries,” the agency /a> in its proposed decision.

A randomized, controlled study on the matter will need to assess factors such as how often and how severely Medicare-aged patients experience problems including hemorrhage, /a> and death when they get the genetic test and when they don’t, Medicare said.

The /a> that the genetic tests for warfarin range in cost from $50 to $500. The newspaper also quotes Edward Abrahams, executive director of the Personalized Medicine Coalition, who said the expensive clinical trials required by Medicare might be unreasonable for diagnostic tests.

DNA image via /a>

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