As a dermatologist/internist with a career-long subspecialty interest in the cutaneous manifestations of the rheumatic diseases, I found the case of refractory acute cutaneous lupus by Samantha C. Shapiro, MD, in the June 2022 issue of The Rheumatologist intriguing in several ways, and I felt my perspectives on this case might provide additional educational value…
As of July 1, a Florida bill increases oversight of pharmacy benefit managers and offers some protection for pharmacies. However, the legislation has limited effects on patients and providers, highlighting the need for additional reform.
Hurricane Ida intensified in the last two weeks of August 2021, battering the Cayman Islands and Cuba before hitting the Louisiana coast as a Category 4 storm just before Labor Day weekend.1 At landfall, Ida blasted southern Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 150 knots, then turned in a north-northwestern direction to hit the New…
Safety considerations and data sources are crucial to consider when designing studies for rheumatology treatments, according to presenters at the 2022 ACR-FDA Summit.
The growing use of copay accumulator programs, which restrict the application of patient assistance funds toward cost-sharing requirements, hurts patient access to life-changing treatments. This was one topic discussed during the ACR’s Advocacy Leadership Conference in D.C. this May.
I wouldn’t normally look to professional basketball as a model for healthcare, but sometimes answers come from unexpected places. The observation that elite athletes are not like you and me—medically speaking—is not new. In the second century AD, the pontifex maximus in Pergamum recognized this fact and appointed Claudius Galen physician to the gladiators, making…
The meetings will focus on legislation affecting rheumatology, including bills on graduate medical education and use of copay assistance funds.
This month, we offer an overview of the federal No Surprises Act, which stipulates that healthcare insurers may not surprise patients with out-of-network care bills, instead requiring healthcare providers and insurers to broker price compromises between themselves. The No Surprises Act, enacted on a bipartisan basis in December 2020, protects patients from surprise billing from…
As rheumatology fellows approach the end of what for many is 25th grade, it’s time to focus on what you want to do for the rest of your life. For most rheumatology fellows it will be some form of clinical practice, although enormous opportunities exist throughout the medical field for you to apply your talents….
Although effective against rheumatic disease, biologic therapies come with hefty price tags. Patient assistance programs can be a useful resource to help under- and uninsured patients get the drugs they need.