When I began my tenure as ACR president this past November, I posited that it “takes a village” to grow and succeed in rheumatology’s rapidly changing environment. The ACR village includes volunteers who represent a diverse leadership pipeline reflecting the demographics of our younger members. It also includes the international rheumatology community that accounts for…
Research has explored the connection between Sjögren’s syndrome and intestinal dysbiosis associated with ocular mucosal disease. A recent study found that oral antibiotics and desiccating stress lead to extreme changes in the gut microbiota in mice. In patients with Sjögren’s syndrome, researchers found that patients with the most severe keratoconjunctivitis sicca and combined systemic and ocular disease had the lowest diversity of stool microbiota…
Baseball is a great sport. It’s fascinating to watch the evolving duel between pitcher and batter. As the former employs their remarkably powerful and versatile rotator cuff and forearm flexor muscles to hurl blazing pitches, the latter engages their exceptionally honed hand–eye neural link to make contact with the ball. Baseball is the ultimate summertime…
(Reuters Health)—State programs that monitor narcotic prescriptions help prevent 10 opioid-overdose deaths a day in the U.S., yet improvements could save another two people a day, a new study finds. States with the most robust programs—ones that tracked a greater number of potentially addictive medications and updated their databases at least weekly—saw the biggest drops…
(Reuters)—The U.S. Department of Justice has significant concerns about Aetna Inc.’s proposed acquisition of health insurer Humana Inc., a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday, and shares of Humana fell more than 11%. Aetna’s purchase of Humana would combine two of the largest providers of Medicare Advantage plans for elderly people, and investors…
(Reuters)—Amgen Inc’s biosimilar form of AbbVie Inc.’s adalimumab (Humira) arthritis drug, the world’s top-selling medicine, is similarly potent and safe as the original product, according to a preliminary review by staff members of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The assessment precedes an all-day meeting on Tuesday of an independent panel of medical advisers…
Attracting medical residents to rheumatology has been difficult. However, Eli Miloslavsky, MD, believes enhancing the teaching skills of rheumatology fellows, enabling them to push through barriers on the ward and leverage teachable moments with residents, may improve patient care and influence a resident’s choice of subspecialty…
CHICAGO (Reuters)—Medicare enrollees are moving in greater numbers than ever to the program’s managed care option as a way to save money. But the tradeoff is much less ability to use their preferred doctors and hospitals. Seniors can choose between traditional fee-for-service Medicare—which is accepted by most healthcare providers—or a Medicare Advantage plan. The latter…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The White House announced on Wednesday measures aimed at advancing President Barack Obama’s precision medicine initiative, including plans to speed the development of tests used to identify genetic mutations and guide medical treatment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it planned to issue a proposal to create performance standards to guide development of…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican lawmakers in U.S. Congress on Wednesday rejected two Democratic amendments to provide nearly $1 billion in funding for bipartisan legislation intended to combat America’s opioid epidemic, aides said. The rejection, which came during a meeting of U.S. House of Representatives and Senate negotiators on the measure, could undermine Democratic support for…