Research has shown that anticonvulsants are teratogens and pose a risk for fetal malformations. Meadow was the first to note a possible link between congenital abnormalities and maternal use of anticonvulsive drug in 1968.1 In 1974, Barr et al noted hypoplasia and irregular ossification of the digital distal phalanges with nail dystrophy in children born to…
You may say the 30 million Americans with osteoarthritis (OA) are walking around with a Band-aid—or so it seems.1 That’s because there’s no actual cure for this disabling condition. However, an international group of scientists is making headway on a method of eliminating aging—senescent—cells as a way to prevent or even reverse OA. Cartilage Disappears,…
The Rheumatology Research Foundation is now offering the Rheumatology Future Physician-Scientist Award to enhance the training of promising MD/PhD or DO/PhD students who intend to become physician-scientists. As part of the Foundation’s work to recruit and train the next generation of rheumatology professionals, the award supports the nation’s top emerging physician-scientists. S. Louis Bridges Jr., MD,…
It seems like yesterday I was asked to write my first presidential column, and here I am penning my last. It’s incredible how fast the time goes and yet how much gets done. That progress is made possible by the dedicated and talented group of ACR volunteers and staff. This year, the College has had…
SAN DIEGO—The 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting kicked off on Nov. 4 with a rousing presentation by Anthony S. Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). A terrorist attack on U.S. soil, hurricane, cyberattack and pandemic were the four scenarios played out in late 2016, when NIAID conducted a tabletop…
(Reuters)—A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on Thursday called a November 7 hearing on the legitimacy of an agreement between drugmaker Allergan Plc and a Native American tribe intended to shield patents from administrative review. The House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on intellectual property, chaired by Republican Representative Darrell Issa of California, said in a statement…
(Reuters)—A panel convened by U.S. President Donald Trump to tackle the opioid crisis called on Wednesday for more treatment programs, tighter prescribing guidelines and additional drug courts to help reduce overdose deaths. The commission, led by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, said the recommendations would require funding by Congress but did not recommend an amount….
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—As Americans begin signing up for Obamacare health insurance plans on Wednesday, experts expect reduced participation as a bitter political debate clouds the program’s future. Republicans in Congress have repeatedly failed to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, which they have said drives up costs for consumers and interferes with personal…
WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters)—Puerto Rico, still reeling from Hurricane Maria, is asking the Trump administration and U.S. lawmakers for help in staving off a Medicaid crisis that has put a quarter of the island’s residents at risk of losing medical care. The territory, which has grappled for years with shortfalls in funding of its Medicaid healthcare…
(Reuters)—New Jersey on Tuesday sued Purdue Pharma LP, accusing the OxyContin maker of contributing to the state’s opioid crisis through deceptive marketing to doctors and patients, including the elderly and the “opioid-naive.” Christopher Porrino, the New Jersey attorney general, faulted what he called a decade-long marketing campaign of “almost inconceivable callousness and irresponsibility, and said…