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CDC Says Prevalence of Severe Joint Pain is Rising
The October 7th edition of MMWR reports that severe joint pain (SJP) has significantly risen from 10.5 million in 2012 to 27.2% in 2014, based on recent NHIS surveys.
Read ArticlePharma 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.
Read ArticleRestricting 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?
EMRs Causing Physician Burnout
Researchers suggest that the burden of EHRs could contribute to physician burnout. The findings of a time and motion study are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Read ArticleRheumNow Week in Review – 2 September 2016
Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from this week in RheumNow:
Read ArticleFlares 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.
Read ArticleCost of Osteoporosis Care in the USA
The 2010 NHANES study suggests that the overall prevalence of osteoporosis (OP) in the USA is ~10% or 10.2 million older adults (> 50 yrs) had osteoporosis.
Read ArticleRheumNow Week in Review – 26 August 2016
Dr. Jack Cush reviews news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
Read ArticleRemicade Patent Infringements Denied: Opens Door for New Biosimilars
A U.S. court has affirmed its decision that the patent for Johnson & Johnson's drug Remicade is invalid. This new ruling favors the intent of Celltrion and Pfizer, who are seeking to bring their biosimilar versions of infliximab to market in the near future.
Read ArticleRheumNow Week in Review – 5 August 2016
Highlights from this week on RheumNow.com include:
1. Having #RA in addition to solid cancer (breast, lung, prostate, colon) increases mortality rates by 40-50% in elders https://t.co/aitjusmOai
2. The global market for rheumatoid arthritis therapies was $19.9 billion in 2015, expected to reach $21.3B by 2020 https://t.co/d2Sh5C8y9f
3. Half of doctors never heard of MACRA:Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act. Starts on Jan 1st! https://t.co/eYgWBWCw6y Blog:https://t.co/sRKZSOFyNV
And more!
Will Patent Extensions Delay Biosimilar Arrivals?
In the last 6 months, the FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee has recommended three biosimilars (CT-P13, GP-2015, ABP-501) for approval, with one achieving FDA approval Inflectra/CT-P13) and the other two pending a probable approval in the months to come.
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FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee Recommends Approval of Adalimumab Biosimilar
The Food and Drug Administration’s Arthritis Advisory Committee yesterday recommended that Amgen biosimilar (ABP 501) to Humira (adalimumab) be approved for use in the United States.
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FDA Delays Ruling on Generic Labeling
The New York Times reports that the FDA has delayed its much anticipated ruling on generics until sometime in 2017.
Read ArticleGenerics Surge the Market
Generics are being approved at a record-setting pace. Thanks to the 2012 FDA Safety and Innovation Act, there are new funds generated by manufacturers' fees for drug applications to hasten the approval of generics. In 2015 alone, the FDA has approved 580 generic drugs – the highest number on record – while another 146 were granted tentative approval.
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CDC Updates Arthritis Numbers
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) routinely surveys the population prevalence of certain chronic disorders, including arthritis.
Read ArticleVaccine Success is Limited in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Numerous guidelines (ACR, ACIP/CDC, ATS, NICE) all call for timely vaccinations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and those receiving immunosuppressives or biologics.
Read ArticleFDA Biosimilar Approval of Inflectra Viewed as a Milestone Advance
On February 9th, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Arthritis Advisory Committee voted 21-3 in favor of approving the infliximab biosimilar, CT-P13/Inflectra, for use in all of infliximab's indications.
Read Article1 in 2 Americans Have Musculoskeletal Conditions
A recent report from the United States Bone and Joint Initiative (USBJI) estimates that 126.6 million Americans (one in two adults) are affected by a musculoskeletal (MSK) condition; a number on par with the number of Americans living with a chronic lung or heart conditions.
Read ArticleOral Prednisolone and NSAIDs Equipotent in Acute Gout
An emergency department based study evaluated the efficacy and safety of oral prednisolone versus indomethacin in 416 patients with acute gout in a multicenter, double-blind, randomized trial.
Read ArticlePatient's Out-of-Pocket Costs for New Drugs Sky-Rocketing
The good news: in 2015 the FDA approved a record number of new drugs (n=45).
The bad news: most new drugs entering the market today have an exorbitantly high price tag.
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