LAS VEGAS — A session on pharmacogenomics at the American Academy of Physician Assistants meeting here began with a lawsuit.

In 2014, the Attorney General in Hawaii filed suit against drugmakers Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi, charging the companies had evidence for years that clopidogrel (Plavix) was less effective among patients of Pacific Island descent, but ignored those signs and marketed the drug anyway.

It’s estimated that 25% of Hawaiians could be affected by a genetic variant that reduces the efficacy of Plavix, according to Melissa Murfin, PA-C, PharmD, of Elon University in North Carolina — and research has shown that mortality rates were twice as high among Pacific Islanders compared with Caucasians when giving Plavix following acute myocardial infarction (2.6% versus 4.8%), she noted.

Murfin argued this example signals to clinicians that having a mechanism to prevent adverse events, including a…