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Vaccinating our rheumatoid arthritis patients against influenza every year is a safety priorty. However immunosuppressive therapies pose a challenge to vaccine administration as their use can hamper vaccine immunogenicity.
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and reports of interest from RheumNow in the last week:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has asked Endo International to withdraw Opana ER from the market, stating that benefits no longer outweigh its risks of this long-acting opioid.
Drs. Kremer and Weinblatt have responded to a recent Annals of Rheumatic Disease article regarding the hepatic risks of alcohol use with methotrexate (MTX) therapy authored by Humphries et al. (Citation source: http://buff.ly/2r70uuz)
The American College of Rheumatology has updated its 2010 guideline for the prevention and treatment of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis. The guideline provides recommendations on assessing fracture risk and treatment for adults and special patient populations, including women of childbearing potential, adults treated with very high-dose glucocorticoids, adults with organ transplants, and children ages 4-17.
AbbVie released the preliminary results of a rheumatoid arthritis trial wherein its Jak inhibitor, upadacitinib, was tested against placebo, and shown to be superior in established RA patients who have failed prior DMARD therapy.
Manpower in rheumatology is about to be a major problem for the next several decades: not enough trainees, a "tsunami of retiring older white rheumatologists", and an aging baby-boomer, arthritis-primed population will strain current resources and manpower. Moreover, necessary services will not likely be available to those in need and there may be a significant maldistribution of adequate rheumatologic care.
Biosimilars continue to command a great deal of research, development and attention given the promise of significant cost savings and potentially wider use for those in need. Biosimilar Reports is an ongoing series dedicated to advances, discussions and developments in biosimilar agents intended for use by rheumatologists.
The Journal of the American Geriatric Society has reported that older women receiving bisphosphonate therapy for greater than 10-13 years were more likely to suffer from fractures.
The increasing cost of drug has been the subject of concern and review - by legislators, reporters and patients.
The Financial Times has reviewed the annual price increases for the 91 drugs in Pfizers portfolio, showing an average price increase by 20 percent in the past year.
Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from the past week on RheumNow.com.
Reginster and colleagues have reported on the results of the CONCEPT trial showing that osteoarthritis (OA) patients treated 800 mg/day of pharmaceutical-grade chondroitin sulfate (CS) have less VAS pain scores and improved function over 6 months therapy. These results were superior to placebo and equivalent to celecoxib in reducing in symptomatic OA knee pain.
Ohio is suing five major drug manufacturers, accusing them of misrepresenting the risks of prescription opioid painkillers that has resulted in the current opioid epidemic.
The British Society for Rheumatology/British Health Professionals in Rheumatology first published a guideline for the management of gout in 2007. They have just updated and published their new guideline, largely because of new therapies, an increasing incidence of gout, low penetrance of urate lowering therapies, and the inability to achieve a target serum uric acid level.
Kimme L. Hyrich, MD, PhD, of the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, and colleagues point out that because of the lack of consensus in diagnostic criteria, "the same child could be classified as 'in clinically inactive disease' or having active disease at the same time point between clinicians or hospitals."
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