A nurse administers the same medication in the same preparation in the same dose to several patients and notes that some patients have a better response to the drug than others. What is the most likely explanation for this phenomenon?

Question

a. Altered bioavailability of the drug
b. Patient compliance with the therapeutic regimen
c. Pharmacogenomic differences among individuals
d. Placebo effects enhancing expectations of drug efficacy

Answer 1

ANS: C
Each patient's genetic makeup can determine how that patient responds to drugs both quantitatively and qualitatively, and this is the most likely cause of individual variation when the same drug is given at the same dose. The bioavailability of a drug is determined by the drug's composition and varies across formulations of the drug. The patients in this example were given the same drug. The nurse was administering the medication to the patients, so compliance is not an issue. Nothing in this example indicates that a placebo effect was in play.