Despite the innovations of new biologics and disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, a large unmet need remains for patients with rheumatic autoimmune disease. Treatment remains limited for many conditions, including for conditions with a dim prognosis, such as systemic sclerosis.1 One promising treatment avenue is hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT). Here, we provide background on HSCT for severe…
Like many other state rheumatology associations, the Ohio Association of Rheumatology (OAR) has recently been actively advocating for patient care at the state legislative level. The most recent example of OAR’s efforts included an Advocacy Day on May 4, when members met with state legislators to discuss topics of interest. It was the fourth such…
Our esteemed colleague, H. Ralph Schumacher Jr., MD, professor emeritus and former acting chief of rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and section chief of rheumatology at the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, died at his home on July 30 from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Dr. Schumacher was a true giant…
Opana ER Pulled from U.S. Market Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked Endo Pharmaceuticals to remove oxymorphone hydrochloride extended release (Opana ER) from the U.S. market due to public health consequences related to abuse. The agency has concerns that the risks presented by the treatment do not outweigh its benefits.1 On…
When it was created in 1982, the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center comprised one-and-a-half rheumatologists: its founder, Lynell W. Klassen, MD, MACR, and Gerald Moore, MD, who later received formal training at the NIH and now serves as senior associate dean for academic affairs. Thirty-five years later, the…
The patient was a 48-year-old woman who saw her primary care physician for a flu-like illness three months prior to admission. Her symptoms initially improved, but recurred one month later; she was treated symptomatically, and again symptoms resolved. Two months later, she presented to an outside facility’s emergency department with fever to 103ºF, with associated…
Whether you’re a rheumatologist or a rheumatology health professional, unless you are self-employed, the time will come when you start thinking it may be time to ask for a raise. The thought of asking for a raise likely conjures up anything but warm and fuzzy feelings, but if you do it at the right time—and…
There you are, working steadily away on your next manuscript. The ideas are flowing. You’ve hit your stride. Nothing can stop you now—nothing, that is, except a colleague who shows up at your desk with a 20-page grant proposal. “Do you mind?” he asks. Across academia the problem is the same—too few hours in the…
Physicians are no more likely than other people to want to think about what happens next. The question of who takes over for a doctor due to death, disability or retirement has legal, medical and personal implications and requires planning to ensure the succession goes smoothly. “Succession planning is like an advance directive for the…
As a manifestation of hyperuricemia, inflammatory bullous lesions have rarely been described in the past century. A more classic presentation of hyperuricemia is acute inflammatory gouty arthritis, characterized by the deposition of monosodium urate crystals. Other complications of chronic untreated hyperuricemia may include polyarticular arthritis, tophus formation and possible chronic destructive lesions of the bone,…