BMS Buyout of Celgene for $74 Billion

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Reuters reports that Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has announced its intention to buy Celgene Corp for nearly $74 billion in a cash-and-stock deal.

2018 Rheumatology Year In Review

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This annual appraisal of hallmark moments, news and research articles from 2018 are gleaned from that published in RheumNow during the last year and filtered by other news sources and literature review.  The top 10 list herein is rooted in what rheumatologists should know and what will likel

Uncertain Long Term Efficacy in Trials of Knee Osteoarthritis

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A systematic review and network meta-analysis of 47 randomized clinical trials in knee osteoarthritis finds uncertainty around estimates of effect size for pain scores thereby casting uncertainty over the long-term efficacy of medications for knee osteoarthritis.

Sleep Apnea Increases Gout Risk

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Both Gout and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) comingle with a wide range of serious comorbidities. A matched retrospective cohort study from the UK Clinical Practice Research database shows those with OSA are at a higher risk of developing gout.

Best of 2018: Advance Practice Clinicians Proliferating in Specialty Practices

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An analysis of SK&A outpatient provider files, covering 90% of physician practices in the United States, shows that between 2008 to 2016, there was a 22% increase in the employment of advanced practice clinicians (APCs) by specialty practices.  By 2016, 28% of all specialty practices employed APCs.

Best of 2018: Patients May Not Fill Your Prescription

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A new study linking administrative claims and electronic health records (EHRs) shows that nearly 40% of patients fill and take newly prescribed methotrexate (MTX), tofacitinib or biologics. 

Kan et al set out to estimate the extent and predictors of primary nonadherence in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who received new prescriptions for methotrexate, biologics or tofacitinib.

RheumNow Podcast – Rheumatologist Salaries (12.21.18)

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Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news from RheumNow for the week ending 12/21/18.

Rheumatologist and Physician Salaries for 2018

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Medpage Today has published the results of their 2018 Rheumatology Specialty Salaray Survey.

H2H: Ixekizumab vs. Adalimumab in Psoriatic Arthritis

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Lilly has issued an advanced press release on its SPIRIT-H2H trial, wherein ixekizumab (Taltz) was shown to be more effective than than adalimumab (Humira) in a 24 week psoriatic arthritis study.

Rising Physician Exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid

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JAMA Network Open has published that an increasing number of physicians are being excluded from Medicare and other forms of public insurance. 

CDC Top 15 Most Common Opioid Overdose Drugs

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The Dec. 12 issue of the National Vital Statistics Reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the most commonly abused drugs causing drug overdose deaths (between 2011-2016) include fentanyl, heroin, oxycodone, and cocaine.

First FDA Approved Drug for HLH

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The first drug specifically for primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) was approved today, the FDA announced.

E/M Guidelines: Right Road, Wrong Direction

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Last July, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed new E/M guidelines for office visits with physicians. It issued the final guidelines on November 1, with a few tweaks.

Walking the Tightrope of Treat to Target in Psoriatic Arthritis

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In the last few years, new studies have been published examining if early intervention and tight control (TC) of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) disease activity will have the same beneficial outcomes as it does for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).  

Nurse Led Gout Management Highly Effective

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UK researchers have shown that nurse-led gout management, using a treat-to-target urate-lowering strategy, is efficacious and cost-effective compared with usual physicain care. The results are published in the recent Lancet edition.

RheumNow Week in Review – ACR Preview Edition (10.19.18)

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Dr. Jack Cush summarizes the news and reports from RheumNow.Com this past week and previews RheumNow activities at the upcoming ACR 2018 meeting in Chicago.

RheumNow Week in Review – Vitamin D Falls Again (10.4.18)

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

Treat-to-Target in RA: No Increase in AEs

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Implementing a treat-to-target approach for the care of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) did not result in an increase in adverse events or resource use, a post-hoc analysis of a randomized trial showed.

Biologic Therapies Improve Work Outcomes in Spondyloarthritis

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A study from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register in Axial Spondyloarthritis (BSRBR-AS) shows that biologic use significantly improves work productivity and overall activity impairment.

Out of Pocket Costs for Biosimilars - No Savings So Far

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JAMA has published an analysis showing that under Medicare Part D, RA biosimilar infliximab-dyyb was only moderately less expensive (18% less) than the biologic infliximab and, owing to differences in gap discounts, the out of pocket costs for the biosimilar was nearly $1700 more than infliximab