AMAGINE-2 and AMAGINE-3 are in two phase 3 studies that compare multiple doses of brodalumab (anti-IL-17) and ustekinumab (anti-12/23) in adults with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. For 12 weeks, patients were blindly assigned to either 210 mg or 140 mg brodalumab (every 2 weeks), ustekinumab (45 mg or 90 mg every 12 weeks), or placebo.
Biologic and new drug development seldom targets children and adolescents. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of ustekinumab in adolescents age 12 to 17 years with moderate-to-severe psoriasis,
Mease and colleagues have published their results of a phase 3 trial of secukinumab (anti-IL-17A Mab) in 606 patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
Tight control in rheumatoid arthritis was introduced with the TICORA trial and validated in numerous treat-to-target studies since. Now the benefits of tight control in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have been reported.
The health consequences of fructose-containing sugars, sucrose and high fructose corn syrup, found in sugar-sweetened beverages and foods, may be numerous and include obesity, type 2 diabetes, gout and cardiovascular disease.
ICD-10 starts tomorrow, October 1st. Your Coding memory will have to increase 5-fold or more as we go from 16,000 to 68,000 new ICD-10 codes. How this will affect each of us remains to be seen. There’s a lot to learn, and many wonder if this will be the next “Y2K”. While that was much ado about nothing, this has significant reimbursement implications.
RheumNow is committed to reporting safety issues in our monthly Drug Safety Bulletins. Each month we will update you with reports of new, ongoing and resolved Drug Shortages that will affect the practicing rheumatologist. If you have suggestions or information about specific drug shortages or drug safety issues please email us at: info@rheumnow.com .
Use your ICD-9 codes today and tomorrow 9/30/15, and then use ICD-10 codes only on 10/1/15 and thereafter. Do not submit both ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes on any day as these will be rejected by CMS.
Diet has long been considered a potential risk factor for the onset or pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthris. Obesity and the microbiome are being intensively studied as risk factors for RA.
Acute coronary syndromes (ACSs), myocardial infarctions and heart failure appear to be a hazardous consequence to systemic and articular inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis. But less is known about the clinical characteristics and the association with short-term cardiac outcome of such ACS.
The ACR and SPARTAN (Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network) has worked together to study 57 specific treatment questions regarding AS and SpA. The following guidelines have recently been published after conducting systematic literature reviews.
Biologics have been a great advance in therapeutics, but at great cost. Although biologics account for less than 1% of all prescriptions in the USA, they account for 28% percent of the cost of prescribed medications.
On October 1st, your coding memory will be getting a big and unwelcomed upgrade.
Even if the goverment shuts down, ICD-10 implementation goes forward.
Below are several sources to review what's ahead and what you should be focused on at this point.
Study 329 was published in 2001, and became a pivotal study for the anti-depressant drug Paxil (paroxetine). In 2002, over 2 million prescriptions were written for Paxil. But this drug and this study are currently under the microscope – largely because of concerns about safety and suicide risk, especially in children and adolescents.
Dozens of medical societies pressed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to temporarily halt implementation of the final stage of Meaningful Use, a program that rewards and penalizes clinicians based on how effectively they use electronic medical records.
