Amid rising drug costs and the growing influence of pharmacy benefit managers on patient care decisions, physicians are increasingly called upon to advocate for affordable, evidence-based treatments for their patients.


Amid rising drug costs and the growing influence of pharmacy benefit managers on patient care decisions, physicians are increasingly called upon to advocate for affordable, evidence-based treatments for their patients.

Convex-walking shoes, dietary supplements, advancements in nerve growth factor inhibitors and more—Xavier Chevalier gave an overview and new insights into treatments for osteoarthritis.
Marilynn Larkin |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Non-surgical care for knee osteoarthritis (OA) is uncommon among older adults, especially in regions of the U.S. where total knee arthroplasty rates are high, a large retrospective analysis shows.1 “As rheumatologists, we often think of knee arthroplasty as the last resort, after patients have tried and failed more conservative treatments, such as…
The Increasing Access to Osteoporosis Testing for Medicare Beneficiaries Act would set a $98 floor for Medicare reimbursement for the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) bone density test.

In early June, the ACR released an updated guideline on the management of rheumatoid arthritis, which includes new recommendations for specific high-risk groups.1 The guideline includes 44 recommendations—seven of which are strong and 37 conditional. It underscores the role of methotrexate as a cornerstone therapy and emphasizes minimizing glucocorticoids, when possible. Guideline Development Process At…

As the U.S. and other patents for branded denosumab products get closer to expiring, drug manufacturers are initiating clinical trials for more affordable, biosimilar versions of the treatment.

Pegloticase is safe and effective to treat patients with refractory gout who are undergoing dialysis, according to recently presented research.

In 1888, Dr. Jan Mikulicz-Radecki reported a case of chronic, bilateral, painless enlargement of the salivary and lacrimal glands that appeared to be idiopathic.1 In subsequent years, other patients with these findings were reported, and the term Mikulicz syndrome was used to describe these cases. Although Mikulicz syndrome is now known to be associated with…

Many a rheumatology consult has centered on a perplexing question: Does this patient have central nervous system (CNS) vasculitis? At the 2021 ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium, Rula Hajj-Ali, MD, FACP, professor of medicine and associate director of vasculitis care and research, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, discussed this topic in detail, providing a series…

Akrithi Udupa, MD, Paul McIntosh, MD, Thomas J. Cummings, MD, & Lisa Criscione-Schreiber, MD, Med |
Dermatomyositis is an uncommon autoimmune condition involving skeletal muscle characterized by subacute onset of progressive weakness, intramuscular inflammatory infiltrates and the presence of myositis-specific autoantibodies.1 Immune-mediated myopathies may exert some pathogenic effects on the muscle tissue by targeting the microvasculature.1 Capillary inflammation, fragility and loss may contribute to heightened bleeding events in these patients. Here,…