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Factors Affecting Opiate Abuse Identified
Researchers have determined that adults aged 50 and above were more likely to acquire pain relievers through more than one doctor, whereas younger individuals were more likely to acquire them from friends, relatives or drug dealers.
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FDA Strengthens MI and CVA Risks Associated with NSAIDs
FDA announced yesterday they would strengthen warnings stating that non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs increase the chance of a heart attack or stroke. This applies to both prescription and OTC NSAIDs.
Read ArticleHealth Canada Issues Acetaminophen Advisory
Yesterday Health Canada announced it “is taking additional steps to minimize the risk of liver damage and improve acetaminophen safety,” citing the findings of a government review that underscored the possibility of accidental overdose.
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Neurologic Events with TNF Inhibitor Therapy
Demyelinating disorders are an uncommon complication of TNF inhibition and have been described with all TNF inhibitors but also with other biologics.
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TNF inhibitors in Early Axial SpA Spares NSAID Use
In a 2 year follow-up of the DESIR cohort of patients with early inflammatory back pain (627 patients), TNF inhibitor use was associated with a significantly greater decrease in the median NSAID intake (from 54.9 to 1.9 in TNFi pts versus from 41.9 to 22.3 in non-TNFi pts, p0.05).
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Ustekinumab Efficacy in Psoriatic Arthritis: 2 Year SUMMIT Trial Results
615 adults with active PsA were randomized to ustekinumab (45mg group or 90mg group) or placebo with crossover at 24 weeks.
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Ustekinumab Bests TNF Inhibitors for Biologic Survival in Psoriasis
Using drug survival as a global measure of a drug's effectiveness, safety and tolerability, UK investigators used a national pharmacovigilance cohort (British Association of Dermatologists Biologic Interventions Register) to compare survival rates of the first biologic used in 3,523 biologic-naiv
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Fresolimumab (anti-TGF beta) Improves Systemic Sclerosis
Transforming growth factor (TGF-β) is known to have potent profibrotic activity and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis a futile condition with no effective disease modifying treatments.
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Management of Digital Ulcers in Scleroderma
Currently there are no FDA-approved medications for the treatment of digital ulcerations in the United States. Digital ulcers are a common, unfortunate and difficult to manage consequence of the vascular obliteration and fibrosis that accompanies systemic sclerosis.
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Drug Shortages - June 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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Fibromyalgia Update: Genes, Hyperbaric Therapy & Conflicts of Interest
An Israeli crossover trial analyzed the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in 60 patients with fibromyalgia.
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IM Residents Concerned about Cost, But Don't Have Access to Cost of Care Numbers
A large ACP survey of over 18,000 US internal medicine residents shows they often incorporate cost of care in discussions and decisions, but may not know the data (citation source http://buff.ly/1KeLq0D).
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Doctors are Unaware How Opioids are Abused
A survey of internists and family practitioners shows that half of physicians are unaware of how opioids are abused.
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Adherence to Lupus Meds Linked to Increased Acute Hospitalizations
Using Medicaid data from 2000-2006, 9,600 hydroxychloroquine new users were compared to 3,829 new users of immunosuppressive agents (IS) in patients with SLE. They assessed adherence using the MPR - the medication possession ratio.
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Adherence to ETN/MTX is Greater Than Triple DMARD Therapy
Rheumatoid management hinges on choosing your best therapies first.
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Australia Allows Pharmacy Substitution with Biosimilars Without Notice
Biosimilars are copies of the biologic medicines used to treat inflammatory and immunologic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and cancer- potentially at lower costs.
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Chikungunya Infection in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
NICE Judges Apremilast Less Cost Effective than TNF Inhibitors
The National Institute for Heath and Care Excellence has turned down Otezla for coverage under the U.K. healthcare system for psoriatic arthritis.
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Intraarticular Hip Injection of Ketorolac Equals Steroid Responses
Using ultrasound guided intraarticular injection of the hip, 98 OA of the hip patients were randomized to receive IA ketorolac or triamcinolone. At, 1, 3, and 6 mos pain scale and Harris hip scores were improved equally in both groups with no statistical differences.
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Thiazide Diuretics May Reduce Osteoporotic Fracture Risk
A large Swedish cohort study of hypertensive men and women presented at the 25th Scientific Meeting of the European Society of Hypertension, identitied a protective effect on osteoporotic fractures among current users of thiazide diuretic drugs independent of blood pressure level. This retr
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