All News
US Senate Introduces the Safe Step Act
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) today commended leaders in the United States Senate for introducing the bipartisan Safe Step Act of 2021 (S. 464), new legislation that would place reasonable limits on insurer use of step therapy.
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Are You a Super Rheum?
Several weeks ago, at the Rheumatology Winter Clinical Symposia, an interesting debate between Drs. Orrin Troum and Marty Bergman hashed over the concept of whether rheumatologists should sub-specialize with a practice, research or career devoted to one disease ("Super Rheum"), or be "selective" about what disorders and diseases they would treat or just be a generalist.
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Actemra FDA Approved for Systemic Sclerosis Interstitial Lung Disease
Genentech announced Thursday that the US Food and Drug Administration approved tocilizumab (Actemra) for the treatment of Systemic Sclerosis-associated Interstitial Lung Disease (SSc-ILD), specifically indicated for slowing the rate of decline in pulmonary function in adul
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RheumNow Podcast – Sweet Lies or Hard Truths? (2.26.2021)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews and discusses the news and Journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Low Persistence of Biologics in Psoriatic Arthritis
A longitudinal observational cohort study of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients treated with biologic therapy finds relatively low persistence of selected biologic therapy in PsA patients
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One-Third Rheumatoid Risk from Lifestyle
Analysis of the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) data suggests that one-third of the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the USA is attributable smoking, obesity and alcohol intake.
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RheumNow Podcast – Rheumatology Burnout (1.29.2021)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews this past week's journal articles and news features on RheumNow.com. Colchicine, vaccine rollout, risk of RA in endometriosis patients, tREACH trial, lupus nephritis news, rheumatology burnout and more.
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JAK Inhibitor Misses Endpoint in Safety Study. Now What?
Pfizer announced results Wednesday from its FDA-mandated postmarketing safety study of tofacitinib (Xeljanz), and they don't bode well for the drug and possibly others in its class.
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Rheumatologists Rank 2nd in Physician Burnout
The 2021 Medscape Survey on Physician burnout ranks rheumatology second, just behind Critical Care medicine.
The survey included over 12,000 physcians from 20 specialties. While 42% of MDs claimed to be burnt-out, Rheumatologists claimed this 50% of the time. The top 3 this year were Critical care (51%), Rheumatology (50%) and infectious disease (49%).
Protective Effects of Colchicine in Non-Hospitalized COVID-19
A press release from Montreal Heart Institute announced that the COLCORONA clinical trial provided evidence of the protective effect of colchicine; demonstrating a 21% reduced risk of death or hospitalizations in patients with COVID-19 compared to placebo. COLCORONA trial was a contact-less, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 4,488 non-hospitalized patients from Canada, the U.S., Europe, South America and South Africa.
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Voclosporin FDA Approved for Lupus Nephritis
On January 22nd, the FDA approved voclosporin (Lupkynis) for use in adults with active lupus nephritis; voclosporin is a calcineurin-inhibitor immunosuppressant indicated for use in combination with a background immunosuppressive therapy. FDA approval was based on data from the pivotal AURORA Phase 3 study and the AURA-LV Phase 2 study, which demonstrated the ability of voclosporin to significantly improve LN outcomes after 52 weeks of followup in SLE nephritis patients receiving background standard of care therapies like MMF, and low dose steroids.
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Inequities in Telemedicine During COVID-19
Health equity in the telehealth age has assumed added importance since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The Federal Communications Commission estimates that about 21 million Americans don't have access to the Internet in their homes. Other sources estimate it is closer to 162 million.
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Travel During COVID-19 Pandemic
The CDC has addressed the effects and the issues of domestic and international travel on its website. Below is a sampling of key advice.
Read ArticleCopay Assistance Programs Help Patients but Confuse Them Too
"If you're having trouble paying for your medications, Drug Company X may be able to help."
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2020 Rheumatology Year in Review
2020 was historic, memorable and game-changing. Under the cloud of COVID-19, there were many significant and memorable advances and setbacks for the rheumatology world. In our accounting of most read articles for 2020, (not surprisingly) 17/20 were COVID-related.
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Delays in Diagnosis of Axial Spondyloarthritis
The diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis (and anklylosing spondylitis) (axSpA) is often delayed and usually not diagnosed by rheumatologists; a recent metanalysis shows that longer delays were attributable to lower education levels, younger age at onset and absence of extra-articular manifes
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Hydroxychloroquine Shortage During COVID-19
According to a recent report in Annals of Rheumatic Disease, public enthusiasm for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) created significant access issues for rheumatic patients in the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Medicare's 'Most Favored Nation' Drug-Pricing Rule in Limbo
The fate of the Trump administration's "most favored nation" (MFN) rule for bringing down prescription drug prices remains uncertain as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to assume office later this month.
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RheumNow Podcast – Lights, Camera, Zoom (1.8.2021)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal articles and favorite blogs from this past week on RheumNow.com.
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Adherence to Hydroxychloroquine Lowers Lupus Mortality
A lupus cohort study from British Columbia, Canada has shown that medication adherence with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is associated with a 71% to 83% lower mortality.
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