Congress moves to prevent drug deaths through genetic testing and better alerts

What it does

This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to develop and update a national plan to prevent adverse drug events by incorporating pharmacogenetic testing—genetic tests that predict how a person's body will metabolize specific drugs. It requires the government to educate healthcare providers about pharmacogenetic testing, update electronic health record systems to flag dangerous drug-gene interactions before medications are prescribed, and modernize the FDA's adverse event reporting system to include genetic information. The bill benefits patients by potentially preventing harmful drug reactions and healthcare providers by giving them better tools to prescribe safely.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is regulatory and educational—it mandates federal coordination on adverse drug event prevention and requires HHS to issue guidance and update systems. It is not a subsidy, tax provision, or industry carve-out; it is a straightforward public-health directive.

What the text implies

• Pharmacogenetic testing adoption may increase healthcare costs in the short term if insurers do not cover tests; however, long-term savings from prevented adverse events and hospitalizations likely offset this.
• The bill's emphasis on electronic health record integration may accelerate EHR vendors' development of pharmacogenomics modules, potentially creating competitive advantage for vendors with existing genetic-data infrastructure.
• Expanded adverse event reporting tied to genetic data may reveal previously unknown drug-gene interactions, leading to label changes or drug withdrawals—beneficial for safety but potentially disruptive to pharmaceutical manufacturers.
• The bill does not mandate pharmacogenetic testing; it only requires providers to be informed and systems to flag when testing is appropriate, preserving clinical discretion and patient choice.

Who it affects

Ordinary citizens gain direct protection through better drug safety monitoring and provider education, while healthcare systems gain tools to prevent adverse drug events—a leading cause of preventable harm. The bill imposes no new costs on patients and creates no restrictions on access; it is purely additive to existing safety infrastructure.

Who stands to gain

• genetic testing companies
• electronic health record vendors
• clinical laboratory networks
• healthcare providers (reduced liability from adverse events)

Named in the bill

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Interagency Steering Committee for Adverse Drug Events, National Action Plan for Adverse Drug Event Prevention, FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), Government Accountability Office (GAO), electronic health record (EHR) systems, pharmacogenomics, drug-gene interactions

Where it stands

1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.

• Mar 27, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Mar 27, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

3 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $137,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 9 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.

Eric Swalwell, the sponsor, reported $171,279 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Bank Policy Institute (fka the Financial Services Roundtable) — $80,000 on 1 filing
• Personalized Medicine Coalition — $37,000 on 1 filing
• American College of Medical Genetics — $20,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.