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

Docs & Patients Should Remember to Use Generics

Kathryn Doyle  |  

(Reuters Health)—Prescribing generic medicines instead of brand name drugs whenever possible cuts costs, improves patient adherence and improves health outcomes, according to a new recommendation from the American College of Physicians. “Generic medications are cheaper and patients are more likely to get those prescriptions filled,” says Dr. Amir Qaseem of the American College of Physicians,…

Pfizer to Buy Allergan in $160 Billion Deal

Ransdell Pierson & Bill Berkrot  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters)—Pfizer Inc. on Monday said it would buy Botox maker Allergan Plc. in a deal worth $160 billion to slash its U.S. tax bill, rekindling a fierce political debate over the financial maneuver. The acquisition, which would shift Pfizer’s headquarters to Ireland, would be the biggest-ever tax inversion. The news prompted Democratic presidential…

Novartis to Pay $390 Million in U.S. Settlement over Pharmacy Kickbacks

Sarah N. Lynch  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. will pay $390 million to settle U.S. charges that it paid specialty pharmacies illegal kickbacks in exchange for inducing patients to refill certain medications, according to an accord announced Friday. The settlement between a U.S. unit of Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG, the federal government and more than 40 states concerns payments…

SLE—It’s in the Genes

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In a large-scale genome-wide association study, researchers mapped 10 new SLE-associated loci and found aberrantly regulated gene expression networks may be behind SLE development…

U.S. Public Health Funding on the Decline

Lisa Rapaport  |  

(Reuters Health)—U.S. public health funding, which covers such things as disease prevention, cancer screenings, contraceptives and vaccines, has been steadily falling in recent years and is expected to keep going down, a recent study projects. Real, inflation-adjusted public health expenditures surged from $39 per capita in 1960 to $281 per capita in 2008, then fell…

How to Stay on Top of the Science

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For rheumatologists with busy schedules, staying up to date on the latest research can be difficult. Here are a few tips to help you review and prioritize the literature that could affect your practice…

Drug Makers Inconsistent in Sharing Clinical Trial Data

Lisa Rapaport  |  

(Reuters Health)—Drug companies are inconsistent about disclosing data related to clinical trials of new medicines, a new report says. Researchers examined publicly available data on clinical trials for 15 new medicines from 10 companies that were cleared for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2012. Two of the companies disclosed all trials…

U.S. Doctor Group Calls for Ban on Drug Advertising to Consumers

Susan Kelly  |  

(Reuters)—The American Medical Association on Tuesday called for a ban on advertising prescription drugs and medical devices directly to consumers, saying the ads drive patients to demand expensive treatments over less costly ones that are also effective. The influential doctors’ group said the new policy reflects physicians’ concerns that marketing spending on a proliferation of…

Autoimmune Diseases Common in Patients with Vitiligo

Will Boggs, MD  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Patients with vitiligo commonly have other autoimmune diseases, according to a cross-sectional study. “Vitiligo is a systemic disease with multiple comorbidities,” Dr. Iltefat Hamzavi from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Mich., told Reuters Health by email. “The number of patients with neurologic diseases and inflammatory disease was much higher than we anticipated.”…