The FDA is asking for more safety analysis before approving tofacitinib to treat psoriasis. Also, adalimumab and etanercept received the greatest number of adverse and serious adverse events reported to the FDA in 2014…

The FDA is asking for more safety analysis before approving tofacitinib to treat psoriasis. Also, adalimumab and etanercept received the greatest number of adverse and serious adverse events reported to the FDA in 2014…
In June 2014, 10 members of a church group returned to St. Louis from Haiti, where they had contracted chikungunya virus (CHIKV), a mosquito-transmitted alphavirus previously unknown in the Western hemisphere that produces inflammatory arthritis symptoms. Because CHIKV-related arthritis mimics seronegative RA, a group of clinicians, immunologists, virologists and geneticists at the Washington University in…
Co-morbidities in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and related autoimmune diseases often warrant a multidisciplinary approach to treatment. When it comes to inflammatory and fibrotic lung conditions in these patients, collaboration between pulmonary/critical care specialists and rheumatologists is essential, say two rheumatologists recently interviewed by The Rheumatologist. Both followed their rheumatology fellowship training with additional fellowships…
Catherine Kolonko |
How the immune system reacts to potential harm, such as lack of oxygen and inflammation, depends greatly on the human body’s metabolic processes and pathways, according to speakers at FOCIS 2015 in San Diego this past June. During a session devoted to metabolism and the immune system, researchers talked about recent studies that shed light…
Sara Tedeschi, MD |
“Worst of all is the pain in my calves,” she said. “It feels like burning deep inside.” So began my first encounter with a 69-year-old woman who was referred to rheumatology clinic for evaluation of two months of constitutional symptoms and a positive ANCA test, which had been ordered by her primary care doctor. Her…
Alessandro Villa, DDS, PhD, MPH, & Sook Bin Woo, DMD, MMSc |
Prior to the widespread use of bisphosphonates for the management of osteoporosis, multiple myeloma and metastatic cancer to the skeletal system, osteonecrosis of the jawbones was an infrequent condition seen after radiation for oral cancers (osteoradionecrosis) and in chronic odontogenic infections.1 Since the mid-2000s, osteonecrosis of the jawbones has been noted to occur as a…
Reuters |
LONDON (Reuters)—U.S. prices for the world’s 20 top-selling medicines are, on average, three times higher than in Britain, according to an analysis carried out for Reuters. The finding underscores a transatlantic gulf between the price of treatments for a range of diseases and follows demands for lower drug costs in America from industry critics such…
Will Boggs, MD |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Immunotherapy appears to yield neurological improvements in some patients with autoimmune cerebellar ataxia, especially those with nonparaneoplastic disorders, researchers report. “I was surprised that so many patients responded to immunotherapy (steroids, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), and plasma exchange) and remained ambulatory,” Dr. Andrew McKeon from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., told Reuters Health…
Caroline Valetkevitch & Bill Berkrot |
NEW YORK (Reuters)—U.S. biotech shares extended their recent downward spiral on Tuesday as concerns about drug pricing continued to plague the sector while disappointing news from Illumina and other companies added to selling pressure. The Nasdaq Biotechnology index, down 4%, has now fallen about 17% since just before Hillary Clinton, front-runner to be the Democratic nominee…
Kathryn Doyle |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Many doctors are asked to seek donations from grateful patients after successful cancer treatment, but most physicians are uncomfortable with this idea and feel a conflict of interest, according to a new study. “There are ethical ways of seeking donations from patients who have the means and want to give back,” Dr….