The Price of Drugs Continues to Increase
Drug prices increased an average of 10% in 2015 (after a 13.5% increase in 2014) and includes big name drugs from major pharmaceutical companies.
News
Lesinurad augments uric acid lowering effect in allopurinol non-responders
As the never-ending battle with refractory gout continues, the need for more safe and effective treatments remains. Often, steady remission and target urate levels are not achieved with allopurinol alone.
Seropositivity Increases Risk of Rheumatoid Mortality
Three European registries analyzed their cohorts for outcomes that may be related to seropositivity for anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA), rheumatoid factor (RF) and anticarbamylated protein (anti-CarP) antibodies.
Prescribing Rules
If you are responsible for the outcome and welfare of patients – you need prescribing rules.
If you are supervising others or responsible for the training of those learning rheumatology – you need prescribing rules.
Combination or Monotherapy Tocilizumab in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Several rheumatoid arthritis studies have shown that tocilizumab (TCZ) may be as effective as monotherapy when compared to combination therapy (methotrexate plu
Cochrane Reviews Low Back Pain and Exercise
A new Cochrane Review published today shows that targeting exercises to muscles that support and control the spine offers another strategy to reduce pain and disability caused by lower back pain.
Game-Changers 2015: Refining Treatment in Arthritis
Widening experience with JAK inhibition for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and tapering medications among RA patients in remission, along with the success of secukinumab for psoriatic arthritis (PsA), were the most important advances in rheumatology in 2015, according to specialists responding toMedPa
The Global Prevalence of Spondyloarthritis
SpA is a common disease, but with large variation in reported prevalence estimates, partly explained by differences in demographical and methodological characteristics.
Increasing Hospitalization Rates for Shingles in Lupus
An administrative claims study of lupus patients drawn from the United States National Inpatient Sample between 2000 to 2011, studied hospitalization rates related to bacteremia, pneumonia, opportunistic fungal infection, herpes zoster, cytomegalovirus, or pneumocystis pneumonia (P
New Scoring System Predicts 1 year survival in Hip Fracture Patients
A prospective study was conducted in Germany to establish predictors of 1 year survival after a hip fracture in elderly people.
Secukinumab Shows Efficacy in Two Ankylosing Spondylitis Trials
NEJM has published the results of two studies wherein IL-17 inhibition with secukinumab (SEC) was shown to be effective in patients with anklylosing spondylitis.
Increased Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in Ankylosing Spondylitis
Although ankylosing spondylitis affects a predominantly male population, the ratio of men to women has declined from 9-10:1 in earlier studies to more recent estimates of 2-3:1 (F:M).
