The NEJM has published the results of a French multicenter study showing that prosthetic joint infections can be successfully managed with 6 weeks of antibiotic therapy; this was noninferior and had better outcomes compared to 12 weeks of antibiotic therapy.
Prosthetic joint
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House lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pummeled AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez for raising the price of two widely used drugs and for the company's "legally questionable" tactics to head off competition from biosimilars, despite pulling in healthy profits.
Much of Tuesday's House
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Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com - a website for rheumatologists, by rheumatologists.
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CDC study from 33 sites, 25 states showed vaccine efficacy (against Sx COVID) in HCP was 82% with ONEdose
Last month, psoriasis patients covered by Cigna received a curious letter from the insurance giant's pharmacy management division. They could receive a $500 debit card from Cigna, with just one string attached: they would have to switch to a different medication, one preferred by the insurer
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Petri and colleagues have published that measuring hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) blood levels can be useful in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), as low levels are associated with an increased thrombotic risk in SLE.
In total cohort of 739 SLE patients, HCQ levels were serially quantified
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Dr. Jack Cush reviews the best journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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An open source, free read from the European Journal of Internal Medicine discusses how uric acid has evolved from the toxic cause of gout and nephrolithiasis and evolved, by way of science, into a pleiotropic recidivist in the evolution of obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, renal disease,
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Dr. Jack Cush reviews and discusses more than a dozen news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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JAMA has published the new recommendation from the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) stating that screening for vitamin D deficiency is unnecessary and unwarranted in asymptomatic adults.
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Rheumatologists are keen to the effects of smoking (increased arthritis risk, worse outcomes, blunted DMARD responses, added cardiopulmonary risks), but often do not have the resources or plan to encourage or implement smoking cessation from the rheumatology clinic. A new study details the
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A survey study from the ArthritisPower PPRN or CreakyJoints database shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic patient care was substantially affected in unforeseen ways.
Data from the ArthritisPower Patient-Powered Research Network and CreakyJoints patient community were gathered by
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The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) today commended leaders in the United States Senate for introducing the bipartisan Safe Step Act of 2021 (S. 464), new legislation that would place reasonable limits on insurer use of step therapy. This troubling practice requires patients to first
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Several weeks ago, at the Rheumatology Winter Clinical Symposia, an interesting debate between Drs. Orrin Troum and Marty Bergman hashed over the concept of whether rheumatologists should sub-specialize with a practice, research or career devoted to one disease ("Super Rheum"), or be "selective
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Genentech announced Thursday that the US Food and Drug Administration approved tocilizumab (Actemra) for the treatment of Systemic Sclerosis-associated Interstitial Lung Disease (SSc-ILD), specifically indicated for slowing the rate of decline in pulmonary function in adults SSc-ILD.
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Dr. Jack Cush reviews and discusses the news and Journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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A longitudinal observational cohort study of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients treated with biologic therapy finds relatively low persistence of selected biologic therapy in PsA patients
Analysis of PsA patients (n=2301) from a large healthcare provider database, seen between 2002
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Analysis of the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) data suggests that one-third of the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the USA is attributable smoking, obesity and alcohol intake.
NHANES was used to determine the prevalence of lifestyle exposures
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Dr. Jack Cush reviews this past week's journal articles and news features on RheumNow.com. Colchicine, vaccine rollout, risk of RA in endometriosis patients, tREACH trial, lupus nephritis news, rheumatology burnout and more.
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Pfizer announced results Wednesday from its FDA-mandated postmarketing safety study of tofacitinib (Xeljanz), and they don't bode well for the drug and possibly others in its class.
Compared with patients taking tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, those assigned to tofacitinib (5
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The 2021 Medscape Survey on Physician burnout ranks rheumatology second, just behind Critical Care medicine.
The survey included over 12,000 physcians from 20 specialties. While 42% of MDs claimed to be burnt-out, Rheumatologists claimed this 50% of the time. The top 3 this year were Critical
A press release from Montreal Heart Institute announced that the COLCORONA clinical trial provided evidence of the protective effect of colchicine; demonstrating a 21% reduced risk of death or hospitalizations in patients with COVID-19 compared to placebo. COLCORONA trial was a contact-less,
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On January 22nd, the FDA approved voclosporin (Lupkynis) for use in adults with active lupus nephritis; voclosporin is a calcineurin-inhibitor immunosuppressant indicated for use in combination with a background immunosuppressive therapy. FDA approval was based on data from the pivotal AURORA
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Health equity in the telehealth age has assumed added importance since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The Federal Communications Commission estimates that about 21 million Americans don't have access to the Internet in their homes. Other sources estimate it is closer to 162 million. However,
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The CDC has addressed the effects and the issues of domestic and international travel on its website. Below is a sampling of key advice.
Read Article"If you're having trouble paying for your medications, Drug Company X may be able to help."
You may have heard sentences like this at the end of pharmaceutical ads on television, and some clinicians may wonder what exactly the companies do to help their patients. The help usually
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