All healthcare professionals who work in rheumatology had to start adapting to a new landscape of reporting and documentation on Jan. 1 of this year when the Medicare Access and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act, or MACRA, began. As the changeover continues, the Sunday ARHP session, Your New Role in the Era of…
(Reuters Health)—People who sleep poorly may be more likely to develop a chronic pain condition and have worse physical health, a study from the U.K. suggests. A general decline in both the quantity and quality of hours slept led to a two- to three-fold increase in pain problems over time, researchers found. “Sleep and pain…
Abatacept Approved for Adult PsA On June 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved abatacept (Orencia) to treat adults with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA).1 Abatacept is available as both an intravenous formulation and a subcutaneous injection.2 The approval was based on results of two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials, PsA-I and PsA-II, during which…
A two-year study among patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) showed that steroid injections for knee pain were no more effective than saline injections and actually reduced cartilage volume more than placebo. The study, conducted at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, looked at progression of cartilage loss and change in knee pain after treatment with placebo…
Citing safety concerns, the FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee voted against recommending approval of sirukumab for treating adults with RA…
(Reuters Health)—Oral glucosamine has no more effect than placebo on joint pain, according to a new meta-analysis. The analysis of randomized controlled trials from which data have been made public found that at both three-month and 24-month follow-up points, the supplement had no effect on either hip or knee pain from arthritis. Even sub-groups, such…
CHICAGO—Delia Chiaramonte, MD, associate director of education at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, presented the newest thinking on pain to a gathering of rheumatologists at the ACR’s State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium in April. She began by explaining that pain is more than nociception. Nociception stimulates nerves to…
In drug news, a generic 2% diclofenac sodium solution is now available, denosumab is promising to treat osteoporosis, and the FDA has approved sarilumab to treat adults with RA…
Oxycodone Tablets Submitted to FDA Filings for oxycodone tablets (Oxaydo) in both 10 and 15 mg doses have been accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).1 The submission is based on a pharmacokinetic study demonstrating bioequivalence to the reference drug, oxycodone hydrochloride (Roxicodone) tablets at a 15 mg dose. The product is an…
(Reuters)—A synthetic version of a medicine traditionally extracted from chili plant relieved knee pain among osteoarthritis patients for up to six months, data showed, bringing Centrexion Therapeutics a step closer to developing a safe and effective analgesic. The drug, designed to be injected at the site of pain, is being developed by the privately-held company…