New evidence from a clinical trial of rituximab has identified the pathogenetic role of B cells in the earliest, pre-arthritis stage of autoantibody-positive RA…

New evidence from a clinical trial of rituximab has identified the pathogenetic role of B cells in the earliest, pre-arthritis stage of autoantibody-positive RA…
Reuters Staff |
NEW YORK (Reuters)—The U.S. government proposed a rule to end the industry-wide system of after-market discounts called rebates that pharmacy benefit managers receive from drugmakers, a practice that has been under scrutiny. If finalized, the rule would change a system that has been in place for decades and that increasingly has been criticized for obfuscating…
Lawrence Hurley |
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—On Feb. 1, a U.S. judge threw out the state of Maryland’s bid to protect the healthcare law, known as Obamacare, in a ruling that also sidestepped a decision on whether President Donald Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general was lawful. In a win for the Republican president, Baltimore-based U.S. District…
Reuters Staff |
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—A powerful U.S. Senate committee on has invited seven pharmaceutical companies to testify at a hearing later this month examining rising prescription drug prices. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), ranking member of the committee, invited executives from AbbVie Inc., AstraZeneca PLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.,…
Will Boggs, MD |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) outcomes are better with some non-TNF inhibitors than with others, according to French registry data. “Previously, indirect comparisons (meta-analyses) did not show any difference between biologics in terms of effectiveness,” Dr. Jacques-Eric Gottenberg from Strasbourg University Hospital, France, tells Reuters Health by email. “Our direct comparison using observational data…
Arthritis Care & Research |
New research explores the association of the ability to walk and the risk of cardiovascular disease in OA patients compared with the general population. During the study, researchers recorded a six-minute walking distance and measured arterial stiffness of participants. The results: Even among younger people, OA patients could not walk as far as those in the general population. Also, arterial stiffness was inversely associated with walking distance, suggesting walking is important to the cardiovascular risk profile of OA patients…
Health Canada has approved Erelzi, which is biosimilar to Enbrel (etanercept), for treating psoriatic arthritis in adults…
Research has found age at disease onset has an impact on prognosis for patients with primary Sjögren’s syndrome. In the study, early onset primary Sjögren’s syndrome was associated with severe, systemic disease and development of lymphoproliferative disease…
Yasmeen Abutaleb and Susan Cornwell |
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Democrats in control of the U.S. House of Representatives will begin holding hearings on expanding Medicare this spring and will aim to pass a bill by the end of next year, a senior Democratic lawmaker said on Tuesday. John Yarmuth, chairman of the House Budget Committee, said in an interview with Reuters that the…
Talitha Cox, OT, MA, on behalf of the ARP Practice Committee |
What does a new patient experience as symptoms develop and diagnosis is confirmed? The ARP Practice Committee is developing persona-based case studies to help answer this and other questions. The latest topic is juvenile idiopathic arthritis…