Brodalumab Approved for Plaque Psoriasis The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved brodalumab, a monoclonal antibody that targets interleukin 17 (IL‑17).1,2 Brodalumab (Siliq) was approved for treating moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy and have failed to respond to, or have lost response to, other…
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Challenges abound for the manufacturing of biosimilar drugs—from their sheer size compared with small molecule drugs to the unknowable proprietary aspects of the originator drugs—an expert said at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in a session titled Immunology Update: Biologic Agents: From Nature to Protein Engineering to Biosimilars. Above all, because biosimilars are copies…
The year 2015 brought the end of the much-maligned Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), sometimes known as the “doc fix.” The SGR established limits on Medicare reimbursement for physicians, and each year, physicians and those lobbying on their behalf were forced to stave off drastic cuts to their payments. “The SGR was Congress’s attempt to control…
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) continues to provide feedback to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) about the implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 on behalf of rheumatologists. The bipartisan bill repealed the Sustainable Growth Rate and transitioned Medicare from fee for service to a system…
On May 11, ACR leaders will fly to Capitol Hill to meet with Congressional leaders on behalf of ACR and ARHP members. With so many pressing policy issues facing the medical community this year, we hope that you, too, will let your members of Congress know where you stand on the following issues: Support Medical…
On March 22, 2017, Ewa Olech, MD, testified at a hearing before the Nevada State Assembly to voice support for A.B. 245, a bill governing biologic medications and biosimilar substitution in that state. She spoke on behalf of the Rheumatology Association of Nevada (RAN), as its president and founder. The bill establishes guidelines regarding biosimilars and requires…
Editor’s note: This blog by Dr. Worthing originally appeared on the ACR’s Advocacy Listserv. Here’s a perspective on the current climate in which your government affairs team works. As you read this list of observations, imagine you’re a lawmaker and try to find where the ACR’s agenda fits into the current landscape: Washington is highly…
The ACR and EULAR have approved and released response criteria for adult and juvenile myositis, the result of a collaborative initiative that involved the International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies Group (IMACS) and the Paediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organisation (PRINTO). The decade-long collaboration was consensus driven, examined multiple clinical data sets and natural history studies,…
On a chilly March morning in Lancaster, Ohio, rheumatologist Stephanie Ott, MD, shared the Ohio Association of Rheumatology’s (OAR) current advocacy efforts with ACR@Work between walking her three dogs and driving to her clinic to see patients—some of whom travel from as far away as West Virginia. “This year, we are really focusing on legislation…
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Researchers have identified nine new genetic loci linked with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), along with evidence that at least some of them likely play a functional role, such as cytokine signaling and T cell expression. The findings were presented in an abstract session at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, which also included a presentation…