Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. The day Paris came under attack—again. What Came Before Not even 48 hours before that day, I had said my last goodbyes: the teary eyes, the final hugs, promising to stay in touch and, perhaps, see my friends next year at the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. Snap and share another photo. I…
Currier McEwen, MD, was a truly remarkable rheumatologist, accomplishing more than even the best of us could imagine. He is even more recognized in the horticulture community as a hybridizer of flowers. He was born Osceola Currier McEwen on April Fool’s Day, 1902, in Newark, N.J., and died in 2003, at the age of 101….
Many rheumatologists chose the profession because they wanted to delve more deeply into rheumatic diseases than internal medicine calls for. “For most, this level of specialization is sufficient and worthy of a lifelong devotion and commitment,” says S. Sam Lim, MD, MPH, associate professor, Medicine and Epidemiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta. “However, some…
Margaret Mead, an early 20th century anthropologist, said, “Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.”1 The mission of the American College of Rheumatology is Advancing Rheumatology!, and it cannot be achieved without the time, effort, talent and experience of volunteer leaders. You can join…
(Reuters Health)—Women are more apt to be lead authors of research in major medical journals today than they were a generation ago, but they still lag significantly behind men, a recent study suggests. The gender gap matters because lead authors make key decisions on what topics to research, who to include in studies, which outcomes…
(Reuters Health)—Patients give the same doctors different ratings depending on where their visit took place, according to a small U.S. study. Although doctors might act differently in an emergency department compared with a calmer office setting, researchers say the results also suggest that ratings are not a completely reliable measure of the quality of care…
(Reuters Health)—Patients who order direct-to-consumer genetic tests report mixed experiences when they take the results to their doctors, a new study found. About a quarter of people who ordered direct-to-consumer genetic testing from such companies as 23andMe reported discussing the results with their primary care doctors. But nearly one in five were not at all…
(Reuters)—The American Hospital Association warned U.S. antitrust regulators that Anthem Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Cigna Corp. will hurt other health insurers’ ability to compete with Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, leading to higher premiums for consumers. Anthem, the country’s second-largest health insurer, runs Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states. The hospital group, in…
(Reuters)—The National Institutes of Health on Thursday named Verily, formerly Google Life Sciences, as advisor to Nashville’s Vanderbilt University in a pilot program to launch the Precision Medicine Initiative outlined by President Barack Obama last year. The program aims to enroll 79,000 volunteer participants by the end of this year to supply personal data that…
NEW YORK (Reuters)—The U.S. government on Friday proposed raising payments by 1.35% on average next year to the health insurers who offer Medicare Advantage health benefits to elderly and disabled Americans. Payments to insurers will vary under the 2017 Medicare Advantage proposal, based on the region the plans are sold and on the size of…