NEW YORK — The largest U.S. drugstore chain, Walgreen Co., will start selling genetic testing kits at many of its stores later this month, according to Pathway Genomics, which makes the kits.
Pathway said Tuesday that Walgreen will sell saliva swab kits that are used to determine predisposition for chronic diseases, and response to common drugs like Plavix, Tamoxifen and Coumadin.
They can also be used to determine if a person carries a gene for some diseases.
The company said the testing kits will cost $20 to $30 each and will include a collection kit for saliva, which then can be sent to the Pathway laboratory.
Customers can then go Pathway’s website 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.
Missouri: State to vote on health insurance mandate
Missouri is poised to become the first state to put the new federal health-insurance mandate to a vote of its residents. The Missouri House gave final approval Tuesday to a measure that will appear on the August ballot stating that people and employers cannot be compelled to have health insurance. The referendum seeks to defy a federal health-care law signed by President Barack Obama that requires most Americans to have health insurance or face fines. Federal laws, however, generally trump those of states. Similar measures are to appear on the November ballot in Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma.
Michigan: Program ends after field trip for black students
A program for African-American students at Dicken Elementary in Ann Arbor has been disbanded after a field trip to meet a black rocket scientist that excluded children of other races. Officials have said the field trip by 30 black students, mostly fifth-graders, was intended to inspire them as part of a bigger push to close a gap in test scores between black and white children. The district is investigating whether the activity violated a state law banning preferential treatment based on race.
Utah: Mother, stepfather arrested after boy’s body found
The body of a missing 4-year-old boy was found Tuesday in a Utah canyon, and his mother and stepfather were taken into custody, police said. The search for Ethan Stacy widened Tuesday after police said the boy’s mother, Stephanie Sloop, reported that he had left his bed Monday night and wandered from their Layton apartment complex. Police said her story changed throughout the day Tuesday. Police said the couple eventually revealed the location of Ethan’s body. The couple was married 10 days ago.
Pennsylvania: Biden son has mild stroke
Vice President Joe Biden’s older son, the Delaware attorney general, had a mild stroke Tuesday and was transferred to a Philadelphia hospital, where he was alert, talking with family and in stable condition. Beau Biden, 41, was expected to recover, his doctor said.
China: Seven children hacked to death at kindergarten
Seven children and one teacher were hacked to death and at least 20 others injured in a rampage Wednesday at a kindergarten in Hanzhong city in northwest Shaanxi province, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Liu Xiaoming, a Hanzhong city official, said the killer committed suicide. The news agency did not immediately give any other details. Three attacks at schools and kindergartens late last month left dozens of children injured. The slaying came despite an ordered boost in security at school grounds.
Russia: Hopes dim on rescuing miners
Thirty Siberian coal miners are buried so deep in Russia’s largest underground coal mine that rescuers use up most of their oxygen tanks trying to reach them and can’t spend much time searching for the missing men, the regional governor said Tuesday. So far, 60 are confirmed dead from the two explosions that hit the Raspadskaya mine in the Siberian region of Kemerovo late Saturday and early Sunday. Many of the dead were rescue workers who went into the shafts after the first blast and were caught in the second explosion.
From Herald news services
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