In the complex web of interactions between systemic inflammatory response, rheumatic disease and disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), what is the potential for using rheumatologic therapies to treat other medical conditions linked to inflammation? Some medical researchers have looked at cardiac conditions, and others have examined the overlap with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Positive effects…
The ACR was part of a 16-member collaboration that created a set of 21 principles on prior authorization and utilization management, intended to ensure that patients receive timely and medically necessary care and medications and reduce the administrative burdens. More than 100 other healthcare organizations support those principles. Now, the AMA has released the results…
A recent Politico article outlined the looming agenda facing Congress as 2018 begins: Fund the government, raise the debt ceiling, modify spending caps, address healthcare subsidies, allocate additional funds for disaster relief, and address the status of millions of undocumented young immigrants.1 Amid all that activity, the ACR, through its Government Affairs Committee (GAC) and…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—U.S. Food and Drug Administration chief, Scott Gottlieb, criticized pharmacy benefit managers, health insurers and drugmakers on Wednesday for “Kabuki drug-pricing constructs” that profit the industry at the expense of consumers. The comments, made at a conference organized by a leading U.S. health insurer lobbying group, stoked speculation over what steps the administration of…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Using tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors in children is not significantly associated with cancer risk, according to a new study. “TNF inhibitors are remarkably effective for the treatment of many autoimmune conditions, but physicians worry that they cause cancer,” Dr. Timothy Beukelman from the University of Alabama in Birmingham told Reuters Health…
(Reuters)—A coalition of 20 U.S. states sued the federal government on Monday over Obamacare, claiming the law was no longer constitutional after the repeal last year of its requirement that people have health insurance or pay a fine. Led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, the lawsuit said that…
(Reuters Health)—Black people with knee osteoarthritis may have a worse quality of life than white patients in part because they’re less likely to be offered knee replacement surgery or to get the procedure when it’s recommended, a U.S. study suggests. Knee replacement surgery has the potential to greatly relieve suffering from severe joint pain that…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—People with gout face a modestly increased risk, of about 20%, for developing osteoporosis, compared to people without gout, researchers in Taiwan suggest. In their population-based study to examine a possible association between gout and subsequent osteoporosis, Dr. Victor C. Kok of Asia University (Taiwan), Taichung, and colleagues retrospectively analyzed data from…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The number of Americans without health insurance rose by 3.2 million people between 2016 and 2017, or 1.3% points to 12.2%, according to a Gallup poll released on Tuesday, the biggest jump in the uninsured rate in nearly a decade.1 Several factors likely contributed to the jump, Gallup said, including attempts by Republicans, who…
A recent Politico article outlined the looming agenda facing Congress as 2018 begins: Fund the government, raise the debt ceiling, modify spending caps, address healthcare subsidies, allocate additional funds for disaster relief, and address the status of millions of undocumented young immigrants.1 Amid all that activity, the ACR, through its Government Affairs Committee (GAC) and…