A new data-driven study tracked and analyzed gout-related healthcare costs for more than three years, determining the financial burden of flares and the possible benefit of proper flare management…

A new data-driven study tracked and analyzed gout-related healthcare costs for more than three years, determining the financial burden of flares and the possible benefit of proper flare management…
Rob Goodier |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Two classes of inflammatory diseases, uveitis and psoriatic disease, appear linked, as a diagnosis of one increases the risk of developing the other, new research has found. A study of Danish patient registries found nearly triple the rate of uveitis among patients with psoriatic arthritis compared to the general population, and double…
Caroline Humer |
NEW YORK (Reuters)—The U.S. government expects healthcare spending to increase by 5.8% annually on average from 2014 through 2024 as more Americans gain insurance coverage and the improved economy drives patients to visit doctors and hospitals. The aging population’s higher healthcare costs will also push health spending higher starting in 2019, according to a study…
Laura Newman |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Psoriasis is linked to a higher risk for arrhythmia, independent of classic cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, according to a study from Taiwan. “In my practice, arrhythmia as comorbidity is discussed during patient consultation along with other comorbidities,” said senior author Dr. Tsen-Fang Tsai of the Department of Dermatology at National Taiwan University…
Will Boggs, MD |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Various organizations recommend dozens of screening and monitoring tests for patients with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis who are using systemic biologic agents, despite sparse evidence to support any of them. “At a population level, these medications have proven to be very safe and the evidence does not support such extensive and frequent…
Ankur Banerjee |
(Reuters)—Anthem Inc. said on Friday it would buy Cigna Corp. in a deal valued at $54.2 billion, creating the largest U.S. health insurer by membership. The deal—the biggest ever in the health insurance industry—comes three weeks after Aetna Inc agreed to buy Humana Inc for $37 billion and is part of an industry-wide consolidation following…
In a survey, the Coalition of State Rheumatology Organizations found a consensus among rheumatologists that the FDA should increase safety for biosimilar therapies via naming and labeling regulations…
In a 25 month Phase 3 trial, abaloparatide-SC reduced the risk of new fractures in patients suffering from postmenopausal osteoporosis. Plus, the FDA launches a new drug safety website.
David Douglas |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The oral Janus kinase inhibitor tofacitinib (Xeljanz, Pfizer) does not increase the risk of malignancies, according to pooled data from more than 5000 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. In an April 22 online paper in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Dr. Lisy Wang of Pfizer, Groton, Connecticut, and colleagues noted that in RA…
David Douglas |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—In postmenopausal osteoporotic women, changing from teriparatide to denosumab benefits bone mineral density (BMD) but switching from denosumab to teriparatide may result in bone loss, according to new research. In a July 3 online paper in The Lancet, Dr. Benjamin Z. Leder, of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues noted that many…