Exclusive: ACR Convergence 2024| Focus Rheums

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

Drug Approvals Top 2014 High, but R&D Returns Still Struggle

Ben Hirschler  |  

LONDON (Reuters)—The number of new drugs approved in the U.S. this year has already topped last year’s 18-year high, yet large pharmaceutical companies are still struggling to get a decent return on their research dollars. In fact, returns on research and development (R&D) spending by the world’s top drug makers have fallen to just 4.2%,…

Hospital Safety Culture Key to Improving Surgical Results

Megan Brooks  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The “safety culture” of a hospital may be just as important in delivering high-quality surgical patient care as more technical issues like surgeon skill and operating room equipment, according to a new study. “The study supports what many surgeons have known for a long time, and that is that the organizational culture…

Valeant Hires Attorney, Crisis Management Firm as U.S. Scrutiny Mounts

Sarah N. Lynch & David Ingram  |  

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters)—Pharmaceuticals firm Valeant, under mounting pressure from Congress and prosecutors over its drug pricing, has hired an attorney in Washington, D.C., and crisis public relations experts with political connections, according to sources familiar with the matter. The move, confirmed by sources and through documents viewed by Reuters, signals a shift for Valeant Pharmaceuticals,…

New Evidence MRI Can Be Used to Monitor Neuromuscular Disease Progression

  |  

In a study of patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, researchers found that MRI scans can be used to detect the muscle water changes that precede marked intramuscular fat accumulation that may contribute to the disease’s presentation. MRI biomarkers may prove useful in clinical trials for therapies for this and other neuromuscular disorders by enabling researchers to measure disease progression…

Careful Management Improves Safety of Stem Cell Transplantation in Crohn’s

Will Boggs, MD  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Careful use of antibiotics and corticosteroids can substantially improve the safety of autologous hematopoietic stem transplantation (HSCT) in patients with refractory Crohn’s disease (CD), researchers from Spain report. “Autologous HSCT is feasible but it is associated with severe adverse events and even mortality,” Dr. Elena Ricart from Hospital Clinic de Barcelona tells…

Exercise Helps Manage Hip Osteoarthritis Pain

Kathryn Doyle  |  

(Reuters Health)—Water- or land-based exercise should provide some short-term benefit in pain management for hip osteoarthritis, though there are few well-designed trials testing it, according to a new review. “It is nice to finally have some hip-specific data, as hip and knee osteoarthritis are often grouped together, and it’s almost certain that there are differences…

HealthCare.gov Sign-Ups Exceed Last Year’s Pace

Reuters Staff  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters)—Enrollment in 2016 individual insurance through the HealthCare.gov website is higher than it was a year ago at this time, with 1 million new customers signed up, U.S. government health officials said on Wednesday. The officials cited the latest enrollment data as a reason for confidence in the long-term stability of HealthCare.gov, which…

Smarter Regulation Can Help Cut Drug Prices, Says EU Agency Head

Ben Hirschler  |  

LONDON (Reuters)—Europe’s top drug regulator weighed into the medicine pricing debate on Wednesday, arguing a smarter and faster pharmaceutical approval system was needed to help rein in the spiraling cost of new treatments. In exchange for speeding up the approval process, society would expect manufacturers to charge less for innovative medicines, European Medicines Agency (EMA)…