Medical education programs are changing. Tiffany Lin, MD, discusses a curriculum designed around patient-centered case studies and why a new accreditation process is a welcome change…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), disease-activity-guided dose reduction of a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) is safe and effective in the long-term and leads to a large reduction in TNFi use, according to three-year data from the DRESS study. Implementation of this strategy would “vastly improve the cost-effective use of TNFi,” conclude Dr….
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled their version of legislation that would replace Obamacare, proposing to kill a tax on the wealthy that pays for it and reduce aid to the poor to cut costs. With Democrats deeply opposed to Republican attempts to overhaul former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, the route to…
NEW YORK (Reuters)—Humana Inc. will not return to the individual insurance market after it exits the Obamacare exchanges this year, a market that Republicans are trying to repeal and replace through new legislation, Humana’s top executive said on Thursday. Republicans in the U.S. Senate released a draft of their bill to undo Obamacare, officially called…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration moved on Wednesday to prevent pharmaceutical companies from “gaming” the system to block or delay entry of generic rivals. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a blog post that the agency plans to hold a public meeting on July 18 to identify ways pharmaceutical companies are using FDA…
(Reuters)—Missouri on Wednesday became the third U.S. state to accuse major drug manufacturers of fraudulently misrepresenting the risks of opioid painkillers now at the center of a national addiction epidemic. Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley said his office filed a lawsuit in a state court in St. Louis against Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson and Johnson…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—U.S. senators expressed concern on Wednesday about a plan to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, fearing a rush to consider the major legislation as Republican leaders prepare to unveil it. The healthcare bill will be released to the Republican Senate Conference on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) and posted online, Senators John…
In drug news, a generic 2% diclofenac sodium solution is now available, denosumab is promising to treat osteoporosis, and the FDA has approved sarilumab to treat adults with RA…
A recent study showed that patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis taking mepolizumab had longer disease remission than those on placebo. Some patients were able to discontinue prednisone during the study…