Articles By Jack Cush, MD
Best of 2021: Drug Safety Risk Communication- The 800 lb Gorilla Approach
Discussions on drug safety can be as treacherous as quicksand for the patient and physician. What the physician knows and what the patient perceives may not be in sync.
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Best of 2021: 11 Drugs That Cause Arthritis
This is the #1 question I get from new consults: “How did I get arthritis?” But as the aching are asking, they are really thinking these joint complaints must be due to something.
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Best of 2021: 20,21 Whatever it Takes
Amazingly, we made it through 2020, a most forgettable year. Life was great in the first 3 months of 2020, and then COVID hit the fan and a pandemic steamroller derailed life as we knew it.
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Best of 2021: FDA Approves Anifrolumab in SLE
AstraZeneca announced today that anifrolumab (Saphnelo or anifrolumab-fnia) was approved by the the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for that treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who are receiving standard therapy.
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My Podcast Gift (12.24.2021)
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from RheumNow. Dr. Jack Cush tells his podcast story - the genesis, keys to success and recommendations on how to get into podcasting - for teaching, practice, fun or influence.
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Best of 2021: Zoomatology – Present in Absentia
Are you a zoomatologist or a doomsatologist? Zoom has replaced the meeting, the teleconference or the board meeting. If your old meetings were bad, then your replacement zoom meetings will also be bad, if not worse. Largely because you have failed to master the medium. Here are the rules of Zoom.
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Best of 2021: Potential Birth Defects with Hydroxychloroquine
HCQ is one of the safest meds used in rheumatology, but new claims data suggests a small increase in the risk of malformations associated with first-trimester HCQ use. The March 2021 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology studied the risk of major congenital malformations during the first trimester of pregnancy in women with rheumatic disease taking HCQ.
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Best of 2021: Rheumatologists Rank 2nd in Physician Burnout
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 care (51%), Rheumatology (50%) and infectious disease (49%).
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Best of 2021: Consults in Cars
In this episode of Dialing for Doctors (aka, Tales of Telehell), we consider a growing subset of telehealth seekers connecting from their cars. This has happened several times and it always catches me surprise. While I've had "live" televideo visits with patients walking the dog, waking up in bed, and from the waiting room of another doctor's office, consults in cars is about the nuttiest. What is the patient's role in telehealth?
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Best of 2021: Actemra FDA Approved for Systemic Sclerosis Interstitial Lung Disease
Genentech announced March 4th 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 S
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