Many trainees tell me they’re attracted to rheumatology because it demands becoming a complete physician. We need knowledge of the brain, eye, lung, kidney, liver, skin, bones and vascular system to be effective rheumatologists. And because our diseases are frequently multisystem diseases, rheumatologists must be the quintessential collaborators. For more than 30 years, I’ve directed…
In Japan the use of guselkumab to treat erythrodermic, plaque and pustular psoriasis is approved, and anakinra is now indicated for Still’s disease in the E.U…
Since the beginning of the year, the ISC has sent eight letters to payers in response to problematic policies. Each letter outlines the ACR’s concerns and requests corrective action…
Canakinumab may be a useful first-line treatment for renal transplant recipients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), according to recent research. Immunosuppressive drugs can interact with colchicine, the standard first-line treatment for FMF, and increase the incidence of side effects, such as diarrhea and myopathy…
Potential federal drug pricing proposals could shuffle Part B drug coverage into the Part D program and restructure reimbursements for new drugs, moves that would jeopardize patient access to care, explains Kent “Kwas” Huston, MD, a rheumatologist in Kansas City, Mo., and a member of the ACR’s Government Affairs Committee (GAC). “We believe Part D…
In March, the ACR released a white paper designed primarily to help rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals gain an understanding of biosimilars.1 This research-based education piece examines the scientific, economic and prescribing issues related to the use of biosimilars. Now, the ACR has released an update to its official position statement on the use of…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The selective Janus kinase 1 and 2 inhibitor baricitinib appears also to help patients whose rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has not responded adequately to biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, according to results from the RA-BEACON randomized trial. The previously published overall results from RA-BEACON showed that baricitinib-treated patients had significantly better functional and clinical…
In November 2017, I went to Lucknow, India, where I would spend my time as an exchange fellow at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPIMS) as part of the ACR International Visiting Fellows Exchange Program. Where I Come From I completed my medical degree at Mahatma Gandhi Missions Medical College, Navi Mumbai…
If you are a news junkie, then you know that a tick-tock is a story that relies heavily on chronology, counting down the events of the day, in order, as inexorably as the ticking clock. These types of timeline stories have become very popular in the fast-paced world of modern politics, in which readers eat…
In a Phase 3 study, ixekizumab proved safe and effective to treat adults with ankylosing spondylitis (AS)…