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60 Minutes Drills Acthar - A Financially Crippling Drug
Acthar is in the news again. Previously a New York Times article lambasted the drug as the "single most expensive drug per patient", based on it costing Medicare $16,2371 per patient for nearly 3100 patients. Overall, costing Medicare a half-billion US dollars per year.
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The RheumNow Week in Review – Why Comorbidity is Like the Weather (5.3.18)
Dr. Jack Cush discusses the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Genetic Breakthrough in Systemic JIA
The identification of a genetic susceptibility locus for systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) has important implications for treatment of this severe, poorly understood illness, researchers reported.
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Tick, Mosquite-Borne Diseases Triple Since 2004
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a new report showing that from 2004 to 2016, the number of Americans infected by mosquitoes, ticks or fleas tripled from 27,388 in 2004, to 96,075 in 2016.
From 2015 to 2016, these infections rose by 73 percent. This included new Zika and chikungunya virus infections, (41,680 in 2016), followed by Lyme disease (36,429 cases). This may be an underestimation as as many infections are not reported.
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Fixed and Tailored Rituximab Regimens Equal in ANCA Associated Vasculitis
The French Vasculitis Study Group has published the results of the MAINRITSAN2 trial designed to compare individually tailored versus fixed-schedule rituximab (RTX) reinfusion for remission maintenance in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasm antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitides (AAVs).
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The RheumNow Week in Review – Vitamin D Snark Report (4.20.18)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com. A second life for Syk kinase, Vitamin D talk, VTE, regulatory hearings and the Lupus clinic edge.
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Kineret Approved for Still's Disease in EU
SOBI has announced that Kineret (anakinra) has been approved by the European Commission (EC) for the treatment of Still’s disease (Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis [SJIA] and Adult-Onset Still’s Disease [AOSD]), in all 28 European Union (EU) member states.
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SynBioSe: Combo Rituximab and Belimumab Succeeds in Severe Refractory Lupus
One of the driving pathogenic mechanisms in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the generation of immune complexes capable of inducing netosis (NET formation) and NET-derived DNA that may be an amplifying autoantigen and give rise to anti-nuclear autoantibodies (ANAs).
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Uveitis in JIA: Screen All, Treat Early
A European group of experts has formulated consensus-based recommendations for the treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)-associated uveitis, focusing on screening, monitoring, and treatment of this potentially devastating extra-articular manifestation of JIA.
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IL-6 Inhibition Most Effective in Polycyclic Systemic JIA
The German Autoinflammatory Disease (AID) registry has studied the effects of the IL-6 inhibitor tocilizumab (TCZ) in systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) patients and shown a clinical response rate of 35% during the first 12 weeks, and inactive disease and/or remission (with medication)
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Rituximab May Halt ILD in Antisynthetase Syndrome Myositis
A multicenter study assessed patients with the antisynthetase syndrome (AS) and interstitial lung disease (ILD) and found that rituximab (RTX) therapy was associated with either improved or stable pulmonary outcomes in most.
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The RheumNow Week in Review -30 March 2018
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com. News on drug regulatory decisions, fenofibrate and gout, Still's disease, TB and infection rates, SpA and hidradenitis suppurativa, and predicting methotrexate non-responders.
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Shoe Inserts Disappoint with Plantar Heel Pain
A report from the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that commonly used drug store shoe inserts or customized orthotics are often ineffective in managing plantar heel pain.
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Opportunistic Infections in RA Rare with Biologics
The British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register for Rheumatoid Arthritis has studied nearly 20,000 patients and observed that there is no substantially different risk of opportunistic infections between different biologics.
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Plaquenil During Lupus Pregnancy Lessens Flares
A large cohort study of pregnant and non-pregnant women with systemic lupus erythematosus has shown that lupus flares are increased during pregnancy and in the 3 months follwing delivery.
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Abatacept Efficacy in JIA
Subcutaneous abatacept (Orencia) showed efficacy among children with polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in an open-label phase III trial.
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Severe Stevens-Johnson and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis Syndromes May Respond to Etanercept
The Journal of Clinical Investigation reports the results of a trial wherein etanercept (ETN) was shown to be effective in treating cytotoxic T lymphocyte–mediated (CTL-mediated) severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs), including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (T
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The RheumNow Week in Review - 2 March 2018
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and highlights from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Inflammatory Arthritis Variants with Checkpoint Inhibitors
Capelli and colleagues have studied patients treated with ICIs and found two variants of inflammatory arthritis (IA) - a reactive arthritis like large joint arthritis with combination ICI therapy or a small joint IA with ICI monotherapy.
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IL-18 Binding Protein Effective in Adult-Onset Still's Disease
Gabay and colleagues have reported the results of a novel new recombinant human IL-18 binding protein, tadekinig alfa, demonstrating its effectiveness in an open-label dose escalating study in patients with adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD).
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