AMSTERDAM—As more biosimilar drugs for rheumatic diseases make their way to market, evidence is growing that switching from the originator drug to a biosimilar tends to be effective, while the questions of switching back and forth, and switching multiple times using several different biosimilars, remain to be answered, an expert on the topic said at…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—the The American Medical Association, which represents U.S. physicians, urged the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday to stop CVS Health Corp’s plan to buy insurance provider Aetna Inc, saying the deal could result in higher prices for prescription medicines. The AMA said that the $69 billion deal, announced in December, would lead to a…
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…
SAN DIEGO—What does cannabis offer to the treatment and management of rheumatology patients and the range of pain states they experience? What do we really know about its long-term effects? These are hard questions to answer with currently available data and a reality nuanced by complications cannabis advocates don’t always recognize, according to two experts…
Persistent Challenges Sometimes the challenges seem neverending. In addition to the rigors of our daily lives as rheumatology health professionals—growing administrative burdens, increasing pressures to fund research and achieve balance in family and personal lives—we face a growing number of challenges related to the rapidly escalating prices of rheumatology treatments. Even more unfortunately, these costs…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—A U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday voted to move forward the nomination of Alex Azar, a former drug industry executive and lobbyist whom President Donald Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of Health and Human Services. The Senate Finance Committee voted 15-12 to advance Azar’s nomination, with all but one Democrat opposing….
During the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, advances in biosimilar treatments were abuzz. However, many speakers noted that the presence of biosimilars on the market has not yet resulted in greater access to treatment and lower drug pricing in the U.S…
Running a rheumatology practice can be expensive. Here are some tips to save money on expenses, while still investing in the growth of your practice and avoiding penny pinching…
The ACR/ARHP’s annual fly-in to D.C. (#Act4Arthritis) was a huge success. More than 100 ACR/ARHP members and patients from across the nation attended meetings on Capitol Hill to advocate for people living with rheumatic diseases. In all, our advocates visited 138 Senate and House offices. This year’s fly-in on Sept. 25–26 coincided with the second-annual…
The ACR will be back on Capitol Hill Sept. 26 to advocate for lower out-of-pocket costs of prescription drugs and the repeal of arbitrary Medicare therapy caps, as well as to shed light on the role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in drug pricing. But it will take the voice of all rheumatology professionals and…