All News
2015 ACR RA Guidelines Released– Finally!
ACR 2015 RA treatment guidelines were published yesterday, nearly a year after they were preliminarily presented at the 2014 ACR meeting in Boston. After a year of review and revision these have been posted.
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FDA Panel Advises Stronger Warnings on Fluoroquinolones
An FDA Advisory Panel reviewed the safety of fluoroquinolones and their use to treat sinus infections, urinary-tract infections and bronchitis.
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Biosimilars and the FDA
Biosimilars are in the news and will be prominently on parade at next week's ACR meeting in San Francisco. Biosimilars are similar to, but not the same as, innovator biologics.
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Increasing Risk of Septic Arthritis with Age
A retrospective population-based study from New Zealand examined the epidemiology, clinical features, and microbiology of adult native joint septic arthritis.
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More Adverse Events with Off-Label Drug Use
Off-label use of prescription drugs was associated with adverse drug events in a study of patients in Canada, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.
Repeat Skin Cancer Risk with Methotrexate and Biologics
Using Medicare claims data, a retrospective cohort study analyzed the risk of a second non-melanomatous skin cancer (NMSC) in 9460 individuals (6841 with RA and 2788 with IBD).
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DSB: Drug Shortages - October 2015
Each month, RheumNow reviews compiled listings of drug shortages germane to the practive of rheumatology using several sources. If you have suggestions or information about specific drug shortages or drug safety issues please email us at info@rheumnow.
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Sleep Apnea Increases Risk of Gout
Zhang and colleagues from Boston analyzed patients with physician diagnosed sleep apnea from The Health Improvement Network in the UK and compared these with 5 controls (age, sex, BMI matched). They studied 9,865 patients with sleep apnea and 43,598 controls.
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Initiation of Urate-Lowering Therapy During Gout Attacks
A retrospective analysis examined whether it's better to initiate urate-lowering therapy (ULT) during or after an attack of acute gout.
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Toxoplasma Infections in the Immunosuppressed
In the USA, toxoplasmosis is the second leading cause of foodborne illness–related death and hospitalization, with >300 deaths and 4000 hospitalizations each year [2]; 4800 people develop visual loss yearly secondary to the parasite.
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FDA Holds Off on Xeljanz Approval for Psoriasis
The FDA has denied Pfizer's application seeking an indication for Xeljanz in patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis.
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Dietary Supplements Send 23,000 to the ER Annually
The CDC has reported in the NEJM that dietary supplements may be associated with higher than expected rates of adverse events requiring medical evaluation in the emergency department (ED).
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Hydroxychloroquine Retinal Toxicity Reviewed
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ or Plaquenil) retinopathy is rare, but still a major concern among patients and prescribers.
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DSB Reports and Updates - October 2015
This month's DSB addresses labeling changes as well as safety reports from literature, including steps to prevent major birth defects, timing and intervals between PCV13 and PPSV23 vaccines, PPIs and subacute cutaneous lupus, and FDA warnings on tramadol in children.
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Infertility in Rheumatoid Arthritis Linked to Disease Activity
Women with rheumatoid arthritis are said to have a normal number of pregnancies. However, most of these are conceived prior to the onset of RA. Once diagnosed, the RA patient who wishes to become pregnant may be faced with difficult medication choices if she is planning to become pregnant.
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Increased Risk of Shingles with Inflammatory Myositis
A study from the Taiwan National Health Insurance examined 2023 patients with new diagnoses of dermatomyositis or polymyositis and population controls and examined the frequency of Herpes zoster.
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Secukinumab Wins in Psoriatic Arthritis
Mease and colleagues have published their results of a phase 3 trial of secukinumab (anti-IL-17A Mab) in 606 patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
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DSB: Drug Shortages - September 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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High Sodium Intake Linked to Risk of RA
Diet has long been considered a potential risk factor for the onset or pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthris. Obesity and the microbiome are being intensively studied as risk factors for RA.
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The Deadly Truth behind Paxil’s Study 329
Study 329 was published in 2001, and became a pivotal study for the anti-depressant drug Paxil (paroxetine). In 2002, over 2 million prescriptions were written for Paxil.
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