Articles By Jack Cush, MD
60 Minutes Drills Acthar - A Financially Crippling Drug
Acthar is in the news again. Previously a New York Times article lambasted the drug as the "single most expensive drug per patient", based on it costing Medicare $16,2371 per patient for nearly 3100 patients. Overall, costing Medicare a half-billion US dollars per year.
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Severity of Lupus Nephritis is Declining over Time
A retrospective follow-up study of 499 lupus nephritis (LN) patients over three successive eras shows that LN has become less severe in recent years and thus, better long-term survival is possible.
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Rising Need for Weight Loss Counseling in Arthritic Patients
The CDC's May 4th MMWR reports that from 2002 to 2014, the prevalence of health care provider counseling for weight loss among adults with arthritis and overweight or obesity increased by 10% (from 35% to 45%).Among the 54.4 million adults with doctor-diagnosed arthritis in the United States, 32.7% are overweight and 38.1% are obese. Moreover obesity is more prevalent among persons with arthritis than among those who do not have arthritis.
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Bisphosphonate Drug Holidays May Result in Fractures
A report in Endocrine Practice shows that drug holidays from bisphosphonates results in a 15% risk of fractures. (Citation source:
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The RheumNow Week in Review ā Why Comorbidity is Like the Weather (5.3.18)
Dr. Jack Cush discusses the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Fish Oil Fails in Dry Eye Trial
Many topical and OTC products are recommended when treating chronic dry eyes, including omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil or nā3 fatty acids) to relieve symptoms; the NEJM reports that the DREAM trial shows no clinical benefit of nā3 fatty acids for 12 months when compared to placebo.
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Tick, Mosquite-Borne Diseases Triple Since 2004
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a new report showing that from 2004 to 2016, the number of Americans infected by mosquitoes, ticks or fleas tripled from 27,388 in 2004, to 96,075 in 2016. From 2015 to 2016, these infections rose by 73 percent. This included new Zika and chikungunya virus infections, (41,680 in 2016), followed by Lyme disease (36,429 cases). This may be an underestimation as as many infections are not reported.
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Comorbidities Undermine Clinical Outcomes in Psoriatic Arthritis
Analysis of data from the DANBIO registry of psoriatic arthritis patients treated with tumor necrosis factor inhibitor therapy shows that comorbidities were associated with higher baseline disease activity, shorter TNFi persistence, and reduced clinical response rates to TNFi.
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Severe Obesity Worsens Disability in Rheumatoid Arthritis
A study from the Veterans Affairs clinics and the National Data Bank of Rheumatic Diseases shows that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who were severely obese had a greater risk of progressive disability compared to overweight patients; that was not explained by their arthritis or inflammation.
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The RheumNow Week in Review ā FDA Showdown for Baricitinib (4.27.18)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and FDA proceedings from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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