In light of the article "Understanding CYP2D6 and Its Role in Tamoxifen Metabolism" (Smith, 2013), we feel it imperative to comment on the recent, unexpected approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2013) of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor paroxetine as a nonhormonal treatment...

The gene CYP2D6 has an extremely important role in drug metabolism. "Cytochrome P450, family 2, subfamily D, polypeptide 6" is the official name of CYP2D6. The gene is located at position 13.1 on the long (q) arm of chromosome 21 and encodes a member of the cytochrome P450 superfamily of enzymes...

Genetic testing for germline hereditary predisposition syndromes usually involves traditional Sanger DNA sequencing (see Figure 1). New advances in genomic technologies have led to reduced cost and turnaround time with the simultaneous testing of multiple genes. This, in turn, has led to the...

Three children died in August 2012 after receiving usual doses of codeine for postoperative pain following a tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy (U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA], 2013a). Those incidents, combined with a case report of a breast-feeding infant who died in 2005 of an apparent...