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Rheumatologist Compensation and Manpower
You should use this information to not only fend for yourself, but to more accurately guide trainees into a richly rewarding specialty that pays well and has many distinctions to boast of, including high science, hands-on patient interactions and long-term relationships, great hours, lifestyle and family friendly careers. Our field is in desperate need of high quality, problem-solving practitioners.
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The ACR 2016 Playbook
For me and many others, this is the Super Bowl of meetings. I haven’t missed an ACR meeting since I started going as a fellow in 1984. In this span of 30 years I have acquired insights on how to navigate such a big meeting. When I say big, I mean over 14,000 attendees from over 100 countries swarming throughout a convention center that has the elements of the Texas state fair, a gigantic Costco (on Saturday), and a sold-out concert.
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Agressive Early Treatment Prevents Rapid Bone Loss in Rheumatoid Arthritis
The International Osteoporosis Foundation has established the Chronic Inflammation and Bone Structure (CIBS) Working Group to address bone loss in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the role of biologic therapies. They conclude that early and aggressive treatment with biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs will help prevent progressive bone loss in patients with RA.
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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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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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Pharma Points Blame at PBMs
A Wall Street Journal article claims that U.S. drugmakers are pointing the blame at the middlemen who also influence drug priciing.
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Restricting High Price Drugs - A Dangerous Trend?
Who makes billions in profits and millions in bonus monies? PBMs and insurers, thats who.
This week United Healthcare and Express Scripts announced new plans to restrict patient and prescriber access to popular, expensive, albeit FDA-approved, medications and biologics.
Who benefits, who loses?
CDC Reports 31 Million Older Americans Don't Get Adequate Exercise
The Sept.16th issue of MMWR reports that many Americans over age 50 are not getting sufficient exercise, thereby increasing their risk for falls, fractures and comorbidities, if not premature death. (Citation source http://buff.ly/2cPAcq9)
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Fibromyalgia - Should Internists Manage a Contested Illness?
The current issue of ACP Internist discusses the considerable dissent among the medical community about fibromyalgia (FM), its cause, diagnosis and care. This review addresses many concerns with input from well-known experts in rheumatology.
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CPAP Use Fails to Prevent CV Events in Sleep Apnea Patients
There are numerous health hazards associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), including an increased risk of cardiovascular events.
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AMA Policy on Freebies and Meals Clarified
A recent JAMA Internal Medicine report on pharmaceutical-sponsored meals disclosed that a $20 meal provided by a drug company could yields 2-5 times more prescriptions. (Citation source http://buff.ly/2cd58i0)
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Flares Portend Damage in Rheumatoid Arthritis - Time for a New Strategy?
Disease flares are common in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), often causing patients to seek additional care, if not medication.
The frequency of flares varies amongst studies in different populations. But the consequence of flares has only recently been studied.
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Knuckle Cracking Good News
Researchers from the radiology department at University of California, Davis Health System have studied the phenomenon of knuckle cracking by simultaneously recording audio and ultrasound imaging from 17 women and 23 men.
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Smoking Worsens Rheumatoid Inflammation
Tobacco and chronic smoking is a major risk factor for the onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and chronic smoking has been linked to severity of disease and lower DMARD response rates.
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Dinosaur Arthritis
The recent edition of Science has an interesting article on the cause of death in a dinosaur - septic arthritis.
Palentologists have unearthed a 70 million year old duck-billed dinosaur near New Jersey and found that the arm bones were not quite right.
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10 Ways Rheumatoid Arthritis Could’ve Killed Glenn Frey
I was truly stunned when it was announced that Glenn Frey, from the Eagles, had died as a result of complications from his rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis and pneumonia.
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A $20 Drug Company Meal Yields 2-5 Times More Prescriptions
Accepting a single pharmaceutical industry-sponsored meal was associated with higher rates of prescribing certain drugs to Medicare patients by physicians, with more, and costlier, meals associated with greater increases in prescribing, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Me
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Musculoskeletal Complications of Hematologic Disorders Reviewed
Morais and colleagues have published an informative review of rheumatologic and musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders that may potentially befall those with benign or malignant blood disorders. It is important to be aware of these associations.
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Reports Call for More Gout Education
Two recent surveys show that gout patients are often uninformed, undertreated, improperly monitored and frequently stigmatized by their gout.
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Curbside Consults - May 2016
How would you manage rheumatoid arthritis patients with melanoma in situ, or high liver enzymes or interstitial lung disease? Curbside consults takes on these challenging therapeutic or safety issues with answers are based on experience, literature and guidelines.
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