Video: Every Case Tells a Story| Webinar: ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice

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

Secukinumab Inhibits Structural Joint Damage in Active PsA

  |  

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA), a chronic inflammatory arthritis characterized by structural damage to the joints, has been associated with reduced health-related quality of life, disability and reduced life expectancy. The joint changes in PsA are characterized radiographically by a combination of erosive and proliferative bone changes, including erosive joint destruction, fluffy periostitis and pencil-in-cup deformities. Radiographic…

Healthy Clones: Dolly the Sheep’s Heirs Reach Ripe Old Age

Ben Hirschler  |  

LONDON (Reuters)—The heirs of Dolly the sheep are enjoying a healthy old age, proving cloned animals can live normal lives and offering reassurance to scientists hoping to use cloned cells in medicine. Dolly, cloning’s poster child, was born in Scotland in 1996. She died prematurely in 2003, at age 6, after developing osteoarthritis and a…

EMA Flags Faulty Generic Drug Data, Backs Sales Halt

Reuters Staff  |  

(Reuters)—The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended suspending sales of some generic drugs after a review found that data collected by a contract research company in India for their approval was unreliable. The EMA’s list included drugs made by some of the top generic drugmakers, including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Mylan NV and Novartis AG’s Sandoz….

MicroRNA Mediates Gene Regulation That Underlies JIA Pathology

  |  

Through the use of large-scale transcriptome analysis, researchers have gained insight into the role of innate immunity in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) pathology. Specifically, transcriptomes of neutrophils in chronic inflammatory states demonstrate extensive network rewiring caused by microRNA, suggesting a role for alternative splicing in JIA pathogenesis…

U.S. Regulators Sue to Block Anthem-Cigna & Aetna-Humana Mergers

Caroline Humer & Carl O'Donnell  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters)—U.S. antitrust officials on Thursday moved to block an unprecedented consolidation of the national health insurance market, filing suit against Anthem Inc.’s proposed purchase of Cigna Corp. and Aetna Inc.’s planned acquisition of Humana Inc. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says the two mergers would reduce competition, raise prices for consumers and…

Underprescribing Adds to Mortality, Hospitalization for Oldest Patients

Will Boggs, MD  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Inappropriate underprescribing of medications is associated with increased mortality and hospitalization rates among community-dwelling adults aged 80 years and older, researchers from Belgium report. “Patients with five or more medications (a standard cut-off used for polypharmacy) can have a well-tailored and balanced medication therapy with an acceptable risk for adverse events,” Dr….

UnitedHealth Sees Further Losses for Obamacare Insurance

Caroline Humer & Amrutha Penumudi  |  

(Reuters)—UnitedHealth Group Inc. on Tuesday said it anticipated another $200 million more in losses this year on the individual insurance business created under U.S. President Barack Obama’s national healthcare reform law, citing the program’s high medical costs. The largest U.S. health insurer says the problem was confined to this one business line, which it plans…

U.S. FDA Panel Backs Valeant Psoriasis Drug with Risk Program

Toni Clarke  |  

(Reuters)—Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s experimental drug to treat psoriasis should be approved as long as certain measures are put in place to mitigate the risk of suicide, an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded on Tuesday. The FDA is not obliged to follow the advice of its advisory committees but typically…