Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week - some obvious, other new thoughts and some - hmmm, reallly?
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new experimental model late last week to streamline some prior authorizations under the traditional Medicare program, but some politicians and experts are concerned that it could result in more delays in care.
The race is on for the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-based therapy to be approved for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus. Its main principle is to induce deep B-cell depletion, with the hope to reset the B-cell aberrant immunity for a sustained clinical remission. At EULAR 2025 in Barcelona, several advances of CAR-based therapies will be presented.
Connective tissue diseases (CTDs) and interstitial lung disease (ILD) represent a challenging intersection of systemic autoimmunity and progressive respiratory impairment. Research presented at EULAR 2025 continues to highlight the importance of CTD-ILD and the evolving landscape of therapeutic options for patients with autoimmune ILDs.
The American Gastroenterology Association has published its revised clinical practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation in at-risk patients, particularly those with immune-mediated disease, receiving immunomodulatory therapy and steroids.
Formerly classified as an ANCA-associated vasculitis, EGPA is both most commonly ANCA negative and clinically different to the other two ANCA-associated vasculitis conditions, GPA and MPA. The management of EGPA has frequently fallen into the trap of being copied from its more common and well-known cousins. Now, however, we are seeing a discordance and following GPA/MPA management will potentially lead to both over-treatment and suboptimal treatment for EGPA. In this context, the Sunday morning session at RNL 2025 on “EGPA management in 2025 and beyond” by Dr. Michael Wechsler was both timely and clinically relevant.
Choice is not just good, it is often necessary, and secukinumab promises just that in both PMR and GCA.


