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

U.S. Top Court Rejects New Challenge to Obamacare

Lawrence Hurley  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The U.S. Supreme Court, which delivered major rulings in 2012 and 2015 preserving President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, on Tuesday declined to take up a new, long-shot challenge to Obamacare brought by an Iowa artist. The court turned away an appeal by Matt Sissel, who had asserted that the 2010 Affordable Care Act…

Secukinumab Receives 2 New Approvals: PsA & AS

  |  

The FDA approved secukinumab (Cosentyx) this past week for the treatment of adults with active ankylosing spondylitis and active psoriatic arthritis. These two new approvals are based on the safety and efficacy outcomes from four placebo-controlled Phase 3 trials in more than 1,500 adults with AS or PsA…

Patients Are Essential to Grassroots Advocacy

Kelly Weselman, MD  |  

In 2015, ACR members were powerful advocates on important issues affecting public health and rheumatology. But we should not forget about an important resource—patients, each of whom can bring unique perspectives to legislators in Washington, D.C. Working together, our voices are stronger. Here’s how your patients can work with the ACR to advocate for their health and rheumatology…

High-Deductible Health Plan Enrollees Aren’t Shopping Around

Kathryn Doyle  |  

hgh(Reuters Health)—High-deductible health insurance plans have been tied to lower healthcare spending, but a new study suggests the reason is not that enrollees in those plans are savvier. High-deductible plans have lower premiums, but when enrollees need medical care, it costs them more out-of-pocket. Researchers had expected that these patients are spending less because they’re…

French ‘Cannabis’ Drug Trial Volunteer Dies

Reuters Staff  |  

RENNES, France (Reuters)—A man left brain dead after a drug trial in northwest France died on Sunday, said the hospital where he was being treated. The Rennes hospital said in a statement that five other volunteers were in stable condition after they were admitted last week. In total, 90 people took part in the trial of the drug made…

FDA Approves New Drugs for Pain

  |  

FDA Updates Belbuca, buccal-administered buprenorphine, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for treating severe chronic pain.1 The dosage form is a dissolving film that is absorbed through the inner lining of the cheek for chronic pain management. It’s expected to be commercially available in the first quarter of 2016. Seven dosage strengths…

Rheumatologists on the Move, January 2016

  |  

2015 Mary Betty Stevens Young Investigator Prize Awarded to Dr. Timothy Niewold Timothy B. Niewold, MD, Mayo Clinic rheumatologist and associate professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minn., was awarded the 2015 Mary Betty Stevens Young Investigator Prize at a reception held during the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in San…

Ethics Forum: Physicians Face Ethical Quandary Discussing Poor Prognosis with Patients

Rashmi Shah, MD, Jennifer Barton, MD, & Robert H. Shmerling, MD  |  

Over the course of a month, you diagnose systemic sclerosis in two newly evaluated patients. Their responses to the news could not be more different. Patient 1 is a previously healthy 55-year-old man who is an avid bicyclist and skier. He presents with a several-month history of rapidly progressive skin tightening extending to the proximal…

Rheumatology Researchers Explore Role of Neutrophils in Autoimmunity

  |  

SAN FRANCISCO—To unravel the mysteries of how autoimmunity begins in the body and, one day, to interrupt that process, rheumatology researchers are exploring the role of neutrophils, especially when they form and release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). At a panel discussion on Nov. 6, 2015, held at the American College of Rheumatology’s Basic Research Conference,…