NEW YORK/HELSINKI (Reuters)—Amneal Pharmaceuticals could soon run out of the raw ingredients to make more of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) that has been touted as a potential treatment for COVID-19 because Finland is keeping the drug for domestic use, according to the generic drugmaker’s chief executives. Amneal has committed to producing about 20 million…
How are COVID-19 and current restrictions on physical distancing affecting rheumatologists? The Rheumatologist interviewed Karim Masri, MD, to ask how the pandemic has changed the way he and his clinic staff deliver patient care, and how these unprecedented times affect patients, staff and life outside the office. Dr. Masri is a practicing rheumatologist at Bon…
The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is disrupting rheumatology clinics and practices all over the world. In the U.S., many providers are turning to telemedicine to care for their patients, but struggles remain. Philip A. Waller, MD, who practices at Accurate Clinical Research, Houston, spoke with The Rheumatologist about how the pandemic is affecting his…
ATLANTA—Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS), a subset of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) disease, can be a fatal result of rheumatic disease. But there’s good news: New therapeutic options for refractory MAS targeting individual cytokines are emerging. At the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting, possible therapeutic options were presented during a pediatric-focused clinical and translational research track, Therapeutic Approaches…
In this time of COVID-19, you may be considering ways to deliver routine rheumatologic care via some form of telemedicine. Here are some of the legal considerations.
ATLANTA—Managing pediatric patients with rheumatic disease involves special considerations, such as developmental concerns and physiological traits that may affect dosing of medications, according to two experts. During a session at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting, Courtney Kremer, ARNP, a pediatric nurse practitioner at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, Iowa City, and Jessica…
ATLANTA—New drug approvals, new and expanded drug indications, and important safety and other updates relevant for rheumatologists were presented by three physicians from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on Nov. 11 at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting. New JAK Inhibitor Approved for RA On Aug. 16, 2019, the FDA approved upadacitinib (Rinvoq), an…