Collaboration among all providers—surgeon, rheumatologist, physical therapist, etc.—is essential for patients with a rheumatic disease who are about to undergo total joint arthroplasty to reach their goals, including reduced pain and improved mobility…
(Reuters Health)—Arthroscopic surgery won’t cure chronic knee pain, locking, clicking, a torn meniscus or other problems related to knee arthritis, according to a panel of international experts. Every year, more than two million people with degenerative knee problems have arthroscopic surgery. But guidelines published May 10 in the British Medical Journal recommend against the procedure…
(Reuters Health)—You might not get what you pay for when it comes to healthcare, a new study hints. A report in Health Affairs on May 2 found little association between how much physician practices charged and patients’ perceptions of their quality of care.1 “We’re asking consumers to make a lot of decisions about healthcare purchasing…
NEW YORK (Reuters)—Aetna Inc, Chief Executive Officer Mark Bertolini wants a debate about what a single-payer healthcare system in the U.S would look like, but says he does not think the federal government should run it. “I think government-run healthcare would be a bad idea,” Bertolini says during an investor conference on Frida. The government’s…
(Reuters Health)—A new study finds that as many as four in 10 people may develop hand osteoarthritis. Among women, researchers found the lifetime risk was 47% while for men it was about 25%. Obese people also had 11% higher lifetime risk than those who were not obese. Hand osteoarthritis can cause disability and problems with…
LONDON (Reuters)—Hospitals and doctors’ surgeries across England were forced to turn away patients and cancel appointments on Friday after a nationwide ‘ransomware’ cyber attack crippled some computer systems in the state-run health service. The U.K. National Health Service (NHS) said 16 organizations had been affected by the cyber attack but said it had not been…
(Reuters) – Healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson said on Monday the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened an investigation concerning management and advisory services provided to rheumatology and gastroenterology practices that bought two of its drugs. The U.S. healthcare company said its Janssen Biotech Inc. unit received a civil investigative demand from the DOJ…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Eruptive keatoacanthomas and extensive panniculitus are among the dermatological conditions associated with the anticancer agent pembrolizumab, researchers say. Pembrolizumab, a humanized IgG4 PD-1 (programmed cell death-1) antagonist antibody, is an immune checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) approved in the U.S. for treating advanced melanoma, non-small-cell lung cancer and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma….
Gout patients need to lower their uric acid levels to 6.0 mg/dL or below and maintain that level. According to N. Lawrence Edwards, MD, MACP, MACR, an education campaign has been raising awareness of this fact and helping gout patients…
(Reuters)—Health insurer Aetna Inc said on Wednesday it will exit the 2018 Obamacare individual insurance market in Delaware and Nebraska – the two remaining states where it offered the plans. Aetna had already said it would exit the individual commercial market in Virginia and Iowa, after pulling out of several other states last year. Aetna…