Articles By Jack Cush, MD
Nurse-Led Patient Care in Rheumatology
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.
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Biosimilar Reports – May 2017
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.
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Higher Fracture Risks with Prolonged Bisphosphonate Use in Older Women
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.
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20% Price Hike Among Pfizer Drugs
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.
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The RheumNow Week in Review – 2 June 2017
Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlights from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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Chondroitin Effective in Knee OA. Or is it?
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.
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Ohio Sues Five Pharma Companies Over Opioid Epidemic
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.
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New BSR 2017 Gout Guidelines
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.
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Golimumab Fails in Polyarticular Juvenile Arthritis
Treatment options for children with active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (polyJIA) have lagged behind that seen with adult rheumatoid arthritis.
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Biologics Before Triple DMARD is Not Cost Effective in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Stepping up to biologic therapy when methotrexate (MTX) monotherapy fails was not shown to be cost effective, compared to first trying triple therapy, in a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) study published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
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