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DSB: ACR 2015 Safety Reports
The following is a compilation of abstracts presented at the 2015 Annual ACR meeting in San Francisco. These were chosen on the basis of impact, quality and safety message.
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EU Endorses Biosimilar Etanercept (SB4) from Samsung/Biogen
Reuters today reported that a copy of the blockbuster biotech drug Enbrel (SB4) was recommended for approval in Europe on Friday, making it the second so-called biosimilar antibody medicine to win such a green light from the continent's regulators.
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Opioid Use Ups the Risk of Hospitalized Infections in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Researchers from Vanderbilt University have studied the issue of opioid use in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and whether this influences infection risk.
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Psoriasis May Not Be a Risk for CV Events
Patients with psoriatic skin and joint disease are uniquely susceptible to multiple comorbidities, obesity and possibly more cardiovascular risks. In rheumatoid arthritis, the increased CV risk and CV events have been closely aligned with inflammation and disease activity.
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AMA Proposes Ban on Television Drug Ads
The American Medical Association has called for a ban on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising for prescription drugs and medical devices, noting these forms of advertising drive up health care costs and often mislead the public.
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Alcohol and Methotrexate - What Do You Advise?
What are your rules on methotrexate and alcohol use? How about casual, social or occasional alcohol use? If one alcoholic beverage is ok, what about 2, 3 or six while taking MTX?
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Surviving Infection on DMARDs or Biologics
Sepsis is a dangerous and potentially fatal consequence of serious infections (SIE), particularly in susceptible populations such as the elderly and immunosuppressed. Published evidence points toward the potential role of TNF in development of sepsis.
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Hypertension Increased in Psoriasis Treated with NSAIDs, Cyclosporine or Steroids
Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis patient have significantly higher rates of comorbidity, including hypertension (HTN). This population-based, nested case–control study analyzed an inception psoriasis cohort from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database between 2000–2010.
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Are We Using Methotrexate Appropriately?
Methotrexate is a mainstay drug in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Yet, we may not be using it long enough or optimizing its use.
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Concern Still Lingers for Silicone Breast Implants
What do you tell your patients who are considering augmentation mammoplasty? Or who question the safety of prior implants?
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Anifrolumab Improves Lupus Outcomes
Furie and coworkers presented the results of a 52-week phase II trial of anifrolumab (ANIFR), a type I interfernon (IFN) receptor antagonist in patients with lupus (SLE).
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Mycophenolate in Scleroderma Lung Disease
Clements et al presented the results of their Scleroderma Lung Study II wherein PSS patients with interstitial lung disease were randomized to receive either 3 grams daily of mycopheonolate or 2mg/kg/day of cyclophosphamide.
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Improving Cardiovascular Trends in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Myasoedova and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic have reported their new data that demonstrates improving cardiovascular (CV) mortality rates in current RA patients treated with modern drugs.
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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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