“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” —W. Edwards Deming For practices to survive, change is a requirement—not an option—in the rapidly evolving practice of rheumatology care. Pharmaceutical therapies are advancing quickly, opening the door for game-changing therapies in the treatment of chronic autoimmune disorders. With these advances comes a need for…
WASHINGTON, D.C.—As treatments for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) improve, some related conditions that used to be common in patients with RA are not seen very often anymore, but they still exist and physicians need to know how to identify them. Speaking to attendees at the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting talk titled Rheumatoid Arthritis—A Case-Based Approach to Selected…
“To err is human.” —Alexander Pope (1688–1744) The Wisest Minds in Medicine At some point during our careers, we have the privilege of meeting a physician so talented that everyone else pales in comparison. These are those gifted clinicians whose astonishing mastery of medicine makes everyone in their midst feel like inept, babbling fools. They…
Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare, non-Langerhan’s cell histiocytosis characterized by tissue infiltration of CD68-positive and CD1a-negative foamy histiocytes.1 ECD was discovered as a lipid granulomatosis in 1930 by Jakob Erdheim and his pupil, William Chester, and approximately 500 cases have been described to date.1 ECD has a heterogeneous course and prognosis ranging from an…
Guselkumab Improves Active Psoriatic Arthritis New research has revealed that patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and ≥3% body area of plaque psoriasis benefit from treatment with a human monoclonal antibody known as guselkumab (GUS). GUS is specific for the p19 subunit of interleukin 23 (IL-23). Patients in the Phase 2 clinical trial experienced significant…
Rheumatologists are accustomed to educating patients about medications, but biologic medications—and now biosimilars—require some additional time and discussion. “Biologics are inherently more complex [than other medications], and there are multiple issues to consider before initiating treatment,” says K. “Kwas” Huston, MD, The Center for Rheumatic Disease, Kansas City, Mo. The first FDA-approved biosimilar to become…
WASHINGTON—The cost of medical care in the United States is expected to grow at a faster clip over the next decade and overall health spending growth will outpace that of the gross domestic product, a U.S. government health agency said on Wednesday. A report by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cited…
NEW YORK—The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed changes to the Obamacare individual insurance market that insurers welcomed as a good start but that others pointed out could raise out-of-pocket cost for consumers. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have promised to scrap the 2010 healthcare law that is a key legacy of Democrat Barack Obama’s…
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Calling it an extremely challenging topic, Peter K. Gregersen, MD, professor and head, Robert S. Boas Center for Genomics and Human Genetics, Feinstein Institute, Manhasset, N.Y., said the current role of genetics in clinical practice is less about how to use genetic information to care for patients and more about how providers and patients…
WASHINGTON, D.C.—What do treating hand osteoarthritis (OA) in the primary care setting, high financial strain and risk of depression in patients with lupus, prolonged sitting and cardiovascular disease, and sex-specific treatment after total hip arthroplasty have in common? They were all topics presented during a session titled ARHP I: Exemplary Abstracts at the 2016 ACR/ARHP…