(Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has joined a whistleblower lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group Inc. that claims the country’s largest health insurer and its units and affiliates overcharged Medicare hundreds of millions of dollars, a law firm representing the whistleblower said on Thursday. “We reject these more than five-year-old claims and will contest…
Intraocular Vancomycin Associated with Hemorrhagic Occlusive Retinal Vasculitis
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Intraocular vancomycin may lead to potentially blinding hemorrhagic occlusive retinal vasculitis (HORV), a new study suggests. “The importance of this study was to present in a number of patients overwhelming evidence that rarely, intraocular vancomycin is associated with sight-threatening retinal vascular occlusion,” says lead author Dr. Andre J. Witkin of Tufts Medical…
FDA Approves Valeant’s Drug to Treat Plaque Psoriasis
(Reuters)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.’s brodalumab (Siliq) to treat adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Brodalumab is administered as an injection. Brodalumab is intended for patients who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy and have failed to respond, or have stopped responding to other systemic therapies,…
Celecoxib Is a Safe Treatment for Arthritis
A study compared celecoxib with ibuprofen and naproxen to determine its cardiovascular safety, as well as gastrointestinal and renal outcomes, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. The results showed that celecoxib met all prespecified noninferiority requirements and is as safe as other non-selective NSAIDs…
Weak Thigh Muscles Tied to Knee Osteoarthritis in Women
(Reuters Health)—Women with weaker thigh muscles may be more likely to develop knee osteoarthritis, a recent study suggests. Women with lower knee extensor strength were 47 percent more likely to develop knee arthritis than women who had stronger knee extensors, the study found. Weakness in the knee flexor muscles was associated with 41 percent greater…
Switch to Biosimilar Infliximab for IBD Slashes Drug Costs
NEW YORK—Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients can be safely switched from originator infliximab to biosimilar infliximab using a managed-switching program, U.K. research shows. “Thus far, there does not appear to be any significant difference between the two infliximab products in terms of drug persistence, side effects, adverse reactions, disease activity, or blood tests, but ongoing…
What Our Colleagues Should Know: Integrated Care for the Lungs
Multi-system diseases have unique challenges. And Dr. Aryeh Fischer says that when treating patients with interstitial lung disease, pulmonologists and rheumatologists must better understand “how we [both] approach our shared diseases.”
Quality Update Reporting Changes under MACRA
With the termination of the Sustainable Growth Rate formula through the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), clinicians who participate in Medicare Part B will now be reimbursed through a new payment model called the Quality Payment Program (QPP). How It Works The QPP rewards the delivery of high-quality patient care via…
ACR Urges CMMI to Test Transparently: Coalition offers principles to guide CMS’s care innovation efforts
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), which develops concepts for healthcare payment and service delivery, must be transparent and engaged with all stakeholders as it tests new models, according to a coalition of 30 associations. On Feb. 10, the Healthcare Leaders for Accountable Innovation in Medicare Coalition, which includes the ACR, released six…
RISE Is Ready for MIPS
Implementation of the Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) began Jan. 1. What does this mean for rheumatologists? It means you must pick the measures by which you will be evaluated and the pace at which you will begin reporting in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System or participating in an Advanced Alternative…
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