All News
Overuse and Underuse of Osteoporosis Drugs
A population-based sudy 824 post-menopausal women ≥50 years old from Valencia, Spain was studied to estimate the percentage of women eligible for treatment, and the proportion of overuse and underuse of antiosteoporotic treatment according to highly-influentia
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Shingles Vaccine Not Cost-Effective in Those Under 60
The herpes zoster (HZ- shingles) vaccine was FDA approved for use in individuals over age 50 years. However, the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended it only be used in those over age 60 years.
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Drug Safety Reports & FDA Updates – August 2015
Safety reports from literature include long-term safety of rituximab, rituximab-induced neutropenia, tabalumab (Anti-BAFF Mab) results from the ILLUMINATE trial, colchicine toxicity increased in CKD patients, FDA updates and drug labeling changes, and more.
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Serious Infections Increased in Etanercept-Treated Juvenile Arthritis Patients
UK researchers set out to study medically significant infections (MSI) in juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients enrolled in the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology Etanercept Cohort Study (BSPAR-ETN).
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More Knee Replacements at Younger Ages
The National Hospital Discharge Survey shows that between 2000 and 2010, more than 5.2 million total knee replacements were performed in the United States. By 2010, the operation had become the leading inpatient surgery performed on adults aged 45 and over.
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SCOT Study Shows NSAID Safety
Since the 2005 FDA hearing that resulted in the removal of Vioxx and Bextra from the US market, the safety of nonselective NSAIDs (nsNSAIDs) and selective Cox-2 inhibitors (e.g., celecoxib) has been repeatedly questioned, often without new or substantive data.
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Hospitalized Infections are Higher with the Second Biologic
Using Medicare claims data on 189,326 RA patients, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham examined the rates of hospitalized infections in previously biologic-treated RA patients and compared rates in cohorts starting new treatment with etanercept, adalimumab, certolizum
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A Rule of Five Spots Spine Disease
A combined rule of five -- the presence of at least five fatty lesions/erosions in the sacroiliac (SI) joint, at least five fatty lesions in the spine, or at least five spinal inflammatory lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) -- is highly specific for axial spondyloarthritis in patients wi
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Romosozumab Surpasses Teraparitide in the STRUCTURE Study
The experimental bone drug, romosozumab, has succeeded in meeting its primary endpoint by showing it was significantly more effective than teriparatide in a 12-month study assessing total hip bone density in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.
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Bicycle Injuries and Fatalities Increasing in Older Americans
JAMA reports the number of traumatic injuries related to bikes in adults nearly doubled from 1998 to 2013 -- going from 8,791 to 15,427. The researchers used data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, which includes data from of 100 emergency departments, and U.S.
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Valeant Acquires Brodalumab from Astra-Zeneca
Reuters reports that Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (a Canadian Pharmaceutical company) is buying rights to AstraZeneca's late-stage experimental psoriasis drug, brodalumab, after it was dropped by codeveloper Amgen Inc in May. Amgen pulled out of the project b
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Advances in Uveitis Associated with Juvenile Arthritis
Uveitis is a common association of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) that has previously been characterized by poor visual prognosis with limited options for effective treatment.
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MOST Study: End Stage Knee Osteoarthritis Shows Dynamic Change by MRI
Guermazi and colleagues have investigated whether end-stage knee osteoarthritis (OA), assessed as grade 4 Kellgren and Lawrence (KL) radiographic changes, are really "end stage".
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Life Expectancy Rises, but People Living Longer with More Illness
Lancet has reported that people are living 6.2 years longer, worldside since 1990. Yet, there has been a rise in illness and disability,and a complex mix of fatal and non-fatal ailments leading to a large amount of health loss.
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C5orf30 Gene is a Negative Regulator of Tissue Damage in Rheumatoid Arthritis
PNAS has reported the work of an international team of scientists from the University College Dublin and the University of Sheffield, who have studied DNA samples and biopsy samples from joints of over 1,000 rheumatoid arthritis patients in the UK and Ireland and determined the C5orf30 gene to be
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DSB: Drug Shortages August 2015
RheumNow is committed to reporting safety issues in our monthly Drug Safety Bulletins. Each month we will update you with reports of new, ongoing and resolved Drug Shortages that will affect the practicing rheumatologist.
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Increased Vascular Mortality in Ankylosing Spondylitis
Haroon et al has analyzed administrative claims data from Ontario, Canada and compared 21473 AS patients with 86606 normal comparators matched for age, sex, and location of residence.
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Growth Hormone Protects Against Osteoporotic Fractures
In a decade-long study of the effects of growth hormone (GH), 80 women with osteoporosis on HRT, between ages of 50-70 yrs were randomized to receive GH 1.0 U or GH 2.5 U recombinant human GH or placebo sc daily during 3 years and compared to an age-matched populatoin sample of (n=120).
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Hyperuricemia, Death & Kidney Disease
In a recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics SocietyTaiwan investigators examined the Annual Geriatric Health Examination Program database (2006 to 2010) to estimate the all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality risks associated with serum uric acid le
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Female "Viagra Pill" Controversy - Grandstanding or Equal Rights?
The FDA is under pressure over the recent approval of the "female viagra" pill. On August 18th, the FDA announced its approval for Addyi (flibanserin) to treat acquired, generalized hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in premenopausal women.
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