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

Articles by Natasha Yetman

How the U.S. Will Set Up New Medicare Drug Price Talks

Ahmed Aboulenein  |  

WASHINGTON—The U.S. government will soon begin hiring experts and collecting the data needed to launch direct negotiations over prescription drug prices for older and disabled people, a top Biden administration official told Reuters. President Joe Biden last week signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, introducing new policies to tackle climate change, taxes and the…

Letter to the Editor: Weathering Storms

Thomas Bush, MD, Paul F. Dellaripa, MD, & Tamiko R. Katsumoto, MD  |  

We read the article, “Rheumatologists Share Lessons Learned in the Wake of Hurricane Ida” (July 2022, The Rheumatologist), with great interest. This poignant account of the impacted patients and rheumatologists provides invaluable planning tips regarding medication loss, access to pharmacies and medical records, and strategies to avoid practice losses. The critical lessons presented in this…

Some Cannabis Products May Ease Chronic Pain, But Side Effects Are a Concern

Reuters Staff  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Oral synthetic cannabis products that have a high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to cannabidiol (CBD) ratio, as well as extracted cannabis products with comparable THC-to-CBD ratios, may provide moderate, short-term improvements in chronic pain, a large systematic review of relevant research suggests.1 However, these products are also associated with higher risks for side effects,…

Gene Profiling May Predict Treatment Response in Refractory Rheumatoid Arthritis

Marilynn Larkin  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) refractory to treatment with rituximab or tocilizumab, genetic profiling of synovial biopsies predicted the lack of therapeutic response better than a model using only tissue pathology or clinical factors, researchers say.1 “We believe this study is a paradigm shift in precision medicine in RA,” Dr. Costantino…

Conservation of Drugs: The Impact of Acute Immunomodulator Prescribing for COVID-19 on Rheumatology Patients

Sara Jo Santangelo, PharmD candidate, & Wendy Ramey, BSPharm, RPh, CSP  |  

In its COVID-19 treatment guidelines, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) lists several drugs commonly prescribed for patients with rheumatic conditions as potential therapies in those who are hospitalized for COVID-19 and require high-flow oxygen, noninvasive ventilation, intermittent ventilation (IMV) or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), as of Aug. 25, 2021, and current as this is…

Intra-Articular Steroid/Lidocaine Injection Improves Hip Arthritis Pain, Function

Reuters Staff  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—A single injection into the hip of steroid and local anesthetic improved pain and function in patients with hip osteoarthritis in a randomized controlled trial, with most of the benefit seen early after treatment. Researchers at two community-based clinics in England assigned 199 volunteers to receive either an ultrasound guided intra-articular hip…

In the Bones: RheumMadness 2022 False Positive MRI in Axial SpA

University of South Florida Rheumatology Fellowship Program: Anastasiya (Stacy) Bagrova, MD; Shreya Gor, MD; Joanne Valeriano-Marcet, MD; Larry Young, MD; & John Carter, MD  |  

Spondyloarthropathy (SpA) can be difficult to diagnose, with rheumatologists sometimes relying on classification criteria designed for clinical trials. Research examines how the use of MRIs affects the finding of bone marrow edema and the diagnosis of axial SpA.

Back to Basics: RheumMadness 2022 Increasing ANA Positivity Scouting Report

University of Chicago School of Medicine: Lauren He, MD; Ana B. Arevalo, MD; & Kichul Ko, MD  |  

Research has revealed how the prevalence of anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) positivity has changed over the past 25 years, raising questions about the role of ANA in autoimmunity and disease.