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An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

Maine Governor Will Not Expand Medicaid, Ignoring Voters

Gina Cherelus  |  

(Reuters)—Maine Republican Governor Paul LePage said on Wednesday he will not expand the state’s Medicaid program under Obamacare, ignoring a ballot initiative widely backed by voters, calling it “ruinous” for the state’s budget. Maine looked set to become the first state in the nation to expand Medicaid by popular vote. About 60% of voters in…

Ex-Pharma Exec Azar Is Top Choice to Run U.S. Health Agency

Yasmeen Abutaleb  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Alex Azar, a former pharmaceutical company executive, is U.S. President Donald Trump’s top pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, two sources with knowledge of the confidential process said on condition of anonymity on Wednesday. Azar served at Eli Lilly for a decade, including five years as president of its U.S….

Kentucky Accuses Endo of Contributing to Opioid Epidemic

Nate Raymond  |  

(Reuters)—Kentucky accused units of Endo International Plc. on Monday of contributing to drug overdoses by deceptively marketing its painkiller Opana ER, in the latest lawsuit by state or local governments against the drugmaker amid an opioid epidemic. Kentucky Attorney General Steve Beshear said the lawsuit would seek to hold Endo responsible for illegally building a…

J&J’s Stelara Shows Promise Against Lupus in Study

Bill Berkrot  |  

(Reuters)—Johnson & Johnson’s blockbuster psoriasis drug ustekinumab (Stelara) led to a significant reduction in disease activity in patients with systemic lupus compared with a placebo in a midstage clinical trial, according to data released on Nov. 4. Ustekinumab is already approved for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and Crohn’s disease and had third-quarter sales of $1.12 billion….

Insurers Step Up Pitch for Obamacare as Government Slashes its Effort

Caroline Humer  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters)—President Donald Trump’s 90% cut to Obamacare advertising has U.S. health insurers in many states digging deeper into their pockets to get the word out about 2018 enrollment, which opened last week. Independence Blue Cross, a health insurer in Pennsylvania, has commissioned a tractor-trailer truck to bring insurance consultants out to shopping centers…

Researchers Examine Lifetime Risk of Total Hip Replacements

Arthritis Care & Research  |  

Total hip replacement (THR) surgery is an effective way to reduce pain and improve function in people with advanced hip osteoarthritis (OA). In light of aging populations, there’s a need to use contemporary, population-level data to plan for future service provision. In a study designed to compare THR data across countries, researchers demonstrated a significant increase in the overall use of and lifetime risk for THR from 2003 to 2013. Women consistently had a higher lifetime risk of surgery than men in all five countries studied, whereas men in all five countries demonstrated a significant increase in lifetime risk for THR over time…

U.S. Congress to Hold Hearing on Allergan Tribal Patent Deal

Jan Wolfe  |  

(Reuters)—A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on Thursday called a November 7 hearing on the legitimacy of an agreement between drugmaker Allergan Plc and a Native American tribe intended to shield patents from administrative review. The House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on intellectual property, chaired by Republican Representative Darrell Issa of California, said in a statement…

AmerisourceBergen Expects Tumbling Generic Drug Prices to Settle

Anuron Kumar Mitra and Tamara Mathias  |  

(Reuters)—AmerisourceBergen Corp said it expects stubbornly low generic drug prices, which have plagued drugmakers and wholesalers, to not deteriorate further next year, and brushed off concerns about Amazon’s possible entry into the industry. The drug distributor ended its fiscal year with a quarterly loss as it set aside $575 million for legal costs for a…

Trump Panel Urges More Treatment Options to Fight Opioid Crisis

Toni Clarke  |  

(Reuters)—A panel convened by U.S. President Donald Trump to tackle the opioid crisis called on Wednesday for more treatment programs, tighter prescribing guidelines and additional drug courts to help reduce overdose deaths. The commission, led by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, said the recommendations would require funding by Congress but did not recommend an amount….