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Pain and Opioid Updates
Today, the CDC and FDA provided new updates on the scope of pain in the USA and guidance on the use of opioids.
MMWR April 14, 2023
Read ArticleIndustry Payments to Rheumatologists Dropped During COVID
Having their clinics shut down and patients staying away during the COVID-19 pandemic was bad enough for physicians' finances, but now a new study finds that, at least for rheumatologists, payments from industry dried up as well.
Read ArticleRheumatologist - Work-Life Survey Results
During the week of April 3, 2023, registered Rheumatologists responded to an email survey regarding work-life balance. The following are the results from 190 respondents - 53% were male (47% female) and 94% were from the USA.
Read ArticleBritish Society of Rheumatology Plans Revision of Systemic Sclerosis Guideline
British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) last published its guideline for systemic sclerosis (SSc) in 2016. Given the many advances in the field the BSR has outlined their plans to update the management of SSc.
Read ArticleGout - Hot Topics in March 2023
A number of new reports this month shed new light on old issues in Gout.
Read ArticlePolypharmacy Increased in Psoriatic Arthritis
Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is plagued by obesity, depression and increased comorbidities; now it appears that polypharmacy adds to the burden of managing PsA.
Read ArticleCarpal Tunnel - Steroid injection vs. Night Splinting
A prospective, pragmatic, open-label, randomized trial conducted by the UK National Health Service, studied interventions in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and found no advantage to either CTS corticosteroid injection (CSI) or night splinting (NS) as the initial treatment of CTS.
Read ArticleBig Time Vasculitis (3.10.2023)
Dr. Jack Cush Reviews the News and Journal articles from the past week on RheumNow. This weeks highlights includes insights on scleroderma, myositis, vasculitis and answers the question - does aggressive biologic treatment of psoriasis prevent future psoriatic arthritis?
Read ArticleHigher Rehospitalization Rates in Younger SLE Patients
A Medicare study shows that young adults with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) exhibit very high 30-day rehospitalization rates (36%) that are significantly higher than older SLE patients and age matched non-SLE patients.
Read ArticleTreat-to-Target Guidelines for GCA and PMR
The Annals of Rheumatic Disease has published updated multinational, treat-to-target (T2T) recommendations for the treatment of giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR).
Read ArticleNew Drug Formulations – For Patients or Profits?
Wang et al., in a JAMA Network Research Letter, recently reviewed Medicaid expenditures on adalimumab (ADA), sold under the brand name HUMIRA®. They noted that the introduction of the citrate-free formulation cost an extra $4.4B to Medicaid between 2014 and 2021.
Read ArticleOlder Lupus Patients Need Follow-Up After Hospital Discharge
Medicare beneficiaries 65 and older with lupus faced dramatically higher mortality when they received no follow-up care during the month after a hospital stay, researchers found.
Read ArticleWithout DMARDS, Shoulder Arthroplasty Increasing in Rheumatoid Arthritis
The need for total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients appears to depend on the use of disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), according to Seminars in Arthroplasty.
Read ArticleGRAPPA Recommendations for Treating Enthesitis in Psoriatic Arthritis
GRAPPA has provided new, evidence based updates to the management of enthesitis in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), affecting at least 30% of PsA patients and is associated with more severe disease, x-ray damage, and poorer outcomes.
Read ArticleICYMI: GRAPPA Recommendations for Treating Enthesitis in Psoriatic Arthritis
GRAPPA has provided new, evidence based updates to the management of enthesitis in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), affecting at least 30% of PsA patients and is associated with more severe disease, x-ray damage, and poorer outcomes.
Read ArticleChatGPT - A Boon or Threat to Scientific Publication?
ChatGPT is a new, artificial intelligence chatbot that has dramatically changed the digital worlds of education, research, graphic design, statistics and more.
Read ArticleHigh- Versus Low-Dose Exercise Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis
Exercise is known to improve function, pain and quality of life (QOL) in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA), but optimal amount of exercise is unknown.
Read ArticlePhysician Burnout Remains, Less So in Rheumatology
The 2023 Medscape Survey on Physician burnout ranks rheumatology at #10; which is down from #2 when the survey was last done in 2021.
Read ArticleACR Urges CMS to Reconsider Copay Assistant Programs in CMS Proposed Rule
The Health and Human Services Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters proposed rule for 2024 does not revise policies related to copay assistance and patient deductibles.
Read ArticleAI Passes U.S. Medical Licensing Exam
Two artificial intelligence (AI) programs -- including ChatGPT -- have passed the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), according to two recent papers.
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