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

TNF Inhibitors Do Not Seem to Boost Cancer-Recurrence Rates

Will Boggs, MD  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors do not appear to increase cancer-recurrence rates in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to new findings from Sweden. TNF has both tumor-promoting and cancer-protective effects, so TNF inhibitors could conceivably affect the risk for cancer recurrence. However, few studies have reported the risk for cancer relapse…

Lyme Arthritis Treatment Protocols Critical as Lyme Disease Spreads

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As Lyme disease and Lyme arthritis spread to new regions in North America, physicians may ned to become aware of their signs and symptoms. Allen C. Steere, MD, says “Lyme arthritis is more complicated to treat than other manifestations of the disease.” Here are some best practices for treating Lyme arthritis…

Osteoporosis Drugs Tied to Lower Fracture Risk & Health Costs

Lisa Rapaport  |  

(Reuters Health)—Older women with osteoporosis who consistently take a bisphosphonate may have a lower risk of fractures and lower total health costs than their counterparts who stop taking these drugs, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined data on 294,369 women who were at least 66 years old, insured by Medicare and prescribed osteoporosis medicines for…

U.S. to Boost Drug Price Negotiation in Medicare Advantage Health Plans

Reuters Staff  |  

(Reuters)—The Trump administration said on Tuesday it would give Medicare Advantage health plans for the elderly new tools to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said Medicare Advantage plans will be allowed to require that patients first try certain lower-cost drugs before moving to a more expensive…

AMA Opposes Merger of CVS & Aetna

Reuters Staff  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—the The American Medical Association, which represents U.S. physicians, urged the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday to stop CVS Health Corp’s plan to buy insurance provider Aetna Inc, saying the deal could result in higher prices for prescription medicines. The AMA said that the $69 billion deal, announced in December, would lead to a…

Adalimumab Appears Safe for Treating Pediatric Patients with Autoimmune Disease

Reuters Staff  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Adalimumab appears to be safe for treating pediatric patients with polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA), psoriasis and Crohn’s disease (CD), according to data from company-sponsored clinical trials. Adalimumab is an anti-tumor necrosis factor monoclonal antibody with demonstrated efficacy in these conditions, but pediatric safety data remains limited. Dr. Gerd…

Insys to Pay $150 Million to Settle U.S. Opioid Kickback Probe

Nate Raymond  |  

(Reuters)—Insys Therapeutics said on Wednesday it had reached a deal to pay at least $150 million to resolve a U.S. Justice Department investigation into claims that the drugmaker paid doctors kickbacks to prescribe a powerful opioid medication. The tentative deal announced by the Arizona-based drugmaker marked a major step in Insys’ efforts to resolve an…

Chikungunya Fever May Trigger Chronic Articular Symptoms

David Douglas  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—More than half of those infected by the mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus will go on to experience chronic articular pain or arthritis, according to Brazilian researchers. Chikungunya—meaning “to become contorted” in the Makonde language—was first described during an outbreak in Africa in the 1950s. Many outbreaks have since occurred in Africa, Asia and…