Medical cannabis may benefit patients experiencing pain, and rheumatologists should be able to discuss its potential risks and benefits with their patients. Here are insights from Dr. Mary Ann Fitzcharles on current research, patient use and more.

Medical cannabis may benefit patients experiencing pain, and rheumatologists should be able to discuss its potential risks and benefits with their patients. Here are insights from Dr. Mary Ann Fitzcharles on current research, patient use and more.
In Japan, ozoralizumab will soon be available as a 30 mg subcutaneous auto-injection to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
RISE Registry Team |
See key changes for the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System for the 2024 performance year as outlined in the proposed rule.
Using data from the U.K.’s Health Improvement Network, a primary care database, Wei et al. examined whether urate-lowering therapy (ULT) in a treat-to-target approach for patients with gout reduces the risk of fracture.
Allison Plitman, MPA |
Since 2006, the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) has increasingly driven clinicians to focus on and improve quality. Quality measures help clinicians measure how well they treat their patients. By tracking their performance, clinicians can identify opportunities to improve patient care while meeting federal reporting requirements. Breaking Down Quality Measures The CMS has…
Nedal Darwish, MD, Mohamed Manaa, MD, Griffin Reyes, MD, & James G. Freeman, MD |
Defined by the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in individuals with clinical evidence of thrombosis or pregnancy morbidity, antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a systemic autoimmune thrombophilia. Clinical thrombosis, which should be confirmed by objective validated criteria (e.g., imaging studies or histopathology), can occur in the arterial, venous or small vessel vasculature and is not limited…
Adil Vural, MD, & Kinanah Yaseen, MD |
Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is a primary, necrotizing granulomatous vasculitis, involving small- to medium-sized arteries, that causes systemic disease. Almost any organ can be affected, but the most affected systems are the upper airways, lungs, kidneys, eyes and peripheral nerves. Migratory polyarthritis is reported in approximately 25% of patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated…
Research from Choi et al. provides insights into the risk of infection in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), comparing patients treated with Janus kinase inhibitors vs. tumor necrosis inhibitors. The most frequent infection was herpes zoster, with patients treated with JAK inhibitors having a significantly greater risk of herpes zoster infection than those treated with TNF inhibitors.
Marian T. Hannan, DSc, MPH |
I vividly recollect asking my physics professor for a letter of recommendation. I sat in the front row of his lectures and visited his office hours most weeks in the semester. He turned me down because he was “too busy.” I was devastated—and panicked about asking my next choice for letter writer. On the plus…
A plain X-ray film appeared on the computer screen—a humerus, a radius and an ulna were all visible. My pupils zoomed around the screen, and on initial inspection, everything looked fine. However, this X-ray was unlike any film I had ever reviewed. You see, it was for my then 4-year-old puppy, Lexi. My sweet little…