All News
The Long Awaited PRECISION Study
The PRECISION study will be presented on Tuesday, November 15, 2016 by Dr. Elaine Husni from the Cleveland Clinic. This report brings to a climax the controversy ignited by the February 2005 3 day FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee review of the safety of the blockbuster COX-2 inhibitors, celecoxib, rofecoxib, and valdecoxib.
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Pfizer Features Xeljanz Presentations at ACR 2016
At this years 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting Pfizer will presen 20 abstracts, mostly centering around its JAK inhibitor tofacitinib (Xeljanz). They will also present the results of their Phase 3 OPAL studies of tofacitinib in patients with psoriatic arthritis.
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10 Tips for Immunization in Practice
Dr. Jerome Greenberg from UCLA has published 10 tips and pearls (based on years of teaching and experience) on immunizations in an out-patient practice:
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Do Statins Reduce Cardiovascular Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis?
RA increases CV risk considerably. But whose responsibility is it to manage CV risk in RA patients?
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Enbrel Approved for Pediatric Chronic Plaque Psoriasis
Etanercept (Enbrel) received FDA approval Friday for use in children with moderate to severe, chronic plaque psoriasis. Previously approved for adults with plaque psoriasis the new indication will be for chronic plaque psoriasis for those over age 4 years.
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Flu Shot for Egg-Allergic Patients – What to Do?
Flu season is upon us. While we try our best to vaccinate as many patients as possible, at times it can be challenging for reasons ranging from patient’s perceptions that the vaccine gives them the flu to others stating they are allergic to vaccine components.
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RheumNow Week in Review – 4 November 2016
Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights and reports from this week on RheumNow.com, including drug-induced cutaneous lupus, pediatric lupus being worse, new gout drug SEL-12, Gut microbiome and IgA plasmablasts, and the weakly-received new ACP guidelines on gout.
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Opioids are Like Guns in the Hands of Children
The opioid abuse epidemic is well known and the focus of many regulators and health care personnel. The problem also affects the youngest Americans, according to a recent Washington Post article.
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ACP Gout Guidelines Reviewed and Critiqued by Rheumatologists
ACP released clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of gout. Interestingly, these are not always aligned with the 2012 ACR gout guidelines.
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Decreased CD4 T Cells with Rituximab Infusions
Rituximab (RTX) is a monoclonal antibody directed against the CD20 antigen on B cells and when administered causes a marked depletion of CD20+ B cells.
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When Cheap Generics Morph Into Expensive Prescriptions
The Wall Street Journal has reported an alarming trend in generic drug pricing that affects many, especially the elderly and those with arthrtis.
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The RheumNow Week in Review – 28 October 2016
Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights, news and journal reports from this week at RheumNow.com
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POSTURE Study: Apremilast Fails in Ankylosing Spondylitis
ClinicalTrials.gov has listed the results of the POSTURE study, a large randomized placebo-controlled trial wherein apremilast was found to yield no benefit (compared to placebo) in treating ankylosing spondylitis (AS) (32.5% vs. 36.6% ASAS20 at week 16) patients.
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October-September 2016 Top Social Media News
Following is a list of top tweets in September and October 2016; they were selected based on the number of clicks, retweets and likes by the viewership. More than 40,000 people were reached with the first one on our list.
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ACP Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Low Back Pain
Low back pain (LBP) is the fifth most common reason for all physician visits in the United States and nearly 25% of all U.S. adults have had LBP in the last 3 months and nearly 6% reported at least 1 episode of severe acute low back pain in the last 1-year.
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Nor-Switch Study Shows it's Safe to Switch to a Biosimilar
The results of the Nor-Switch study were presented at the United European Gastroenterology annual congress this week demonstrating no significant difference in effect, adverse effects or antibody formation in patients switched from Remicade to the biosimilar infliximab (CT-P13, Remsima).
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Review of Herpes Zoster with Immunosuppression and Autoimmune Disease
Researchers from the University of British Columbia reported on their systematic review and meta-analysis of risk of herpes zoster (HZ) in patients receiving biologics, DMARDs and/or corticosteroids for autoimmune diseases.
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RheumNow Week in Review – 14 October 2015
Dr Jack Cush reviews highlights from the news and journal articles appearing this week on RheumNow.com:
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Cannibis Abusers Have Decreased Bone Mass, More Fractures
People who regularly smoke large amounts of cannabis have reduced bone density and are more prone to fractures, research has found. The study also found that heavy cannabis users have a lower body weight and a reduced body mass index (BMI), which could contribute to thinning of their bones.
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My Take on New Ocular Screening Guidelines for Plaquenil
A recent article published by the American Academy of Ophthalmology presented new recommendations for screening of patients being managed with hydroxychloroquine that changed the previous monitoring paradigm. More importantly, it has repositioned hydroxychloroquine from one of the safest medications that rheumatologists use to a drug that can have potentially significant ocular morbidity (if used in doses greater than 5 mg per kilogram and or for prolonged periods of time).
