Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news on COVID-19 and FDA actions this past week. Be sure to check out:

In early March 2020, there were widespread recommendations that wearing routine "surgical masks" by the public sector was not likely to be helpful or advisable. Now we are hearing of a 180 degree shift in thinking with the CDC, leading health officials and the current NEJM Perspective pointing to more widespread use of masks by healthcare workers and even by individuals in the public sector.

The March 31 release of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) reviews the impact of several key comorbidities, most commonly diabetes mellitus, chronic lung disease, and cardiovascular disease, as cofactors leading to worse outcomes with COVID-19 infections.  Below are e

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and COVID developments from this past week.

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has published a guidance document on infusions and office based therapies.

Drs. Cush and Kavanaugh discuss the downside of stopping hydroxychloroquine, DMARDs and biologics in lupus, RA and pregnancy.

In the midst of a global pandemic of the 2019 Novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (COVID-19), a small handful of Rheumatologists gathered on social media to collectively grapple with the impact of this virus on vulnerable populations with rheumatic disease.

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. After years of bemoaning the challenges of telemedicine, our rheumatology clinic transition entirely to a remote clinic in the space of a week.

With the COVID-19 pandemic dynamically changing, we have provided several news items germane to the Rheumatologist.

As the highly virulent SARS-CoV-2 spreads over the world, uncertainty and fear for our patients with rheumatic diseases mount.  

We are in the early stages of trying to limit the morbid and mortal consequences of the corona virus pandemic of 2020. Not surprisingly, the recommendations designed to limit exposure and damage continually highlight the fact that the elderly and immunosuppressed may be amongst the most severely affected should they become infected with this virus.

This has led to a great deal of uncertainty by patients and providers about how rheumatic diseases and their treatments need to be specifically addressed.

Risks of infection were strikingly high among patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated (ANCA) vasculitis, which may relate to both the disease and its treatment, Scottish researchers found.

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

An Italian study examined the outcomes in adult onset Still's disease (AOSD) based on whether they received early or delayed treatment with anakinra (ANK). 

A total of 141 AOSD patients were retrospectively studied.

On 14 November 2019 the European Medicines Agency (EMA) concluded that Xeljanz (tofacitinib) could increase the risk of blood clots in the lungs and in deep veins in patients who are already at high risk.  These recommendations have been formally published and are intended for EU nation

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

A full-read, novel Viewpoint article published in the Annals of Rheumatic Disease (Huizinga TWJ, et al) spotlights a recent international meeting of big thinkers, scientific collaborators and industry dedicated to innovation in rheumatology.

Science Translational Medicine features a report from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center showing that a scopion venom peptide, coupled to steroid, can significantly reduce joint inflammation in a rat model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

I think 2018 was the year that belonged to psoriatic arthritis (although some may argue in favor of immune conditions induced by Checkpoint inhibitors). Many years ago the late Professor Verna Wright in Leeds (UK) was a lone voice for many years describing the clinical subtypes of Psoriatic arthritis as something distinctive from rheumatoid arthritis. For a long time we thought that the treatments for PsA were just the same as RA since we were treating the same problem of synovitis.