SAN FRANCISCO—Men and women have different mechanisms that are at work in producing pain in rheumatic diseases—a little-studied and little-appreciated fact that is crucial to developing and using the right kinds of treatments, an expert in rheumatic disease pain said in a talk at the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. The lack of acknowledgment of this…
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…
View the question. Findings/Diagnosis An anteroposterior (AP) radiograph of the right foot shows hallux valgus of the first metatarsal phalangeal (MTP) joint, erosive changes at the first and fifth metatarsal bones and degenerative changes at the fourth and fifth metatarsal-cuboid joints. An AP radiograph of the left foot shows extensive erosive and degenerative changes at…
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters)—With a backlash brewing over the price of medicines in the U.S., drugmakers are pushing back with a new message: Most people don’t pay retail. Top executives from Eli Lilly and Co, Merck & Co and Biogen Inc. said in interviews with Reuters this week that the media focus on retail, or “list…
LONDON (Reuters)—Pfizer suffered a major setback in Britain on Thursday when the High Court in London ruled that claims of patent protection for the use of its $5 billion-a-year drug Lyrica as a pain treatment were invalid. Lyrica, known generically as pregabalin, was originally developed for epilepsy. However, further research showed it could also help patients…
As the Oct. 1 deadline to transition to ICD-10 approaches, the CMS has released multiple resources, including a joint guidance statement with the AMA that details one year of claims leniency to help physicians adjust to the new coding system and smooth the transition process…
View the question. Findings/Diagnosis The AP radiograph of the left hip (see Figure 1) shows periarticular, well-defined erosions of the left hip (white arrow) without joint space narrowing or osteophytes. There is no fracture. There are surgical clips and a calcified mass in the right hemipelvis (black ellipsis), representing a failed renal transplant. The coronal STIR…
Functional MRI scans that show how pain changes the brain could help rheumatologists develop better approaches to pain relief
Why rheumatic pain is more than a joint issue
Comfort Ability program provides psychological strategies to help children self-manage symptoms