The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) commended the limited extension of key Medicare telehealth coverage provisions but also expressed disappointment that Members of Congress have failed to pass measures to bring transparency to pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) practices, address flawed insur

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has done a systematic review on osteoporosis screening to prevent fractures and put forth its recent recommendations.

Dr. Jack Cush brings in the new year with a review of the latest from RheumNow.com

In October, the NEJM published a randomized clinical trial demonstrating the efficacy of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1ra) in patients with obesity and knee osteoarthritis.

Data from a large UK database finds that gout patients starting urate-lowering therapy (ULT) will benefit from added colchicine prophylaxis by having fewer cardiovascular events.

An epidemiologic assessment of the prevalence of autoimmune diseases in the United States (US) finds that nearly 5% of the population has an autoimmune disorder, twice as many in women compared to men.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com. Highlights are summarized by three songs: "Stairway to Heaven", "You're No Good", and "How Long (has this been going on)".

The British Society for Rheumatology has updated its 2015 guidelines for the management of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) based on published evidence, systematic literature review and expert opinion.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) outcomes were assessed based on whether they received sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), in the setting of comorbid type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the most widespread and fatal pulmonary complication of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A recent metanalysis shows the pooled prevalence of RA-ILD was approximately 18.7%.

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients not responding to usual dosing with secukinumab (150 mg) after 16 weeks were dose escalated to secukinumab (SEC) 300 mg, but failed to show improvement by week 52.

A new scientific review of 148 studies enrolling over 4.3 million adult chronic pain patients treated with prescription opioid painkillers has found that nearly one in ten patients experiences opioid dependence or opioid use disorder and nearly one in three shows symptoms of dependence and opioid use disorder.

Dr. Madelaine Feldman has written an important commentary on the 340B Drug Pricing Program, a safety-net program that would allow vulnerable populations to receive expensive new therapies. But she points out that "this well-intentioned program has strayed from its original purpose", allowing certain hospitals and for-profit pharmacies to exploit the program.

Introduction of biosimilars for the rheumatology drug adalimumab, whose original branded version Humira has long been a blockbuster, appears to have led to a dramatic drop in net spending for these products -- even though biosimilars barely dented Humira prescription rates.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com

Patients with highly active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) appeared to sustain much less organ damage and fewer disease flares when drug therapy yielded substantial relief, researchers found.

This year at ACR24, the RheumNow faculty and reporters were prolific, generating >800 Tweets, 56 written articles, 117 Videos and 28 podcasts – all in 4 days! You can best review and learn ACR24 by A) Rheumatology Roundup; b) Topic Panel videos; and c) Topic podcasts.