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Insight into the ACR’s Commitment to an Inclusive Committee Composition

Kanika Monga, MD, FACR  |  

“While our group carefully considered your application, I regret to inform you that you were not selected this year to serve as a committee volunteer.” When the email arrived, gently delivering the news that my application to volunteer with the ACR on a committee had not been accepted, my initial reaction was to dismiss it…

The 7 Virtues of Rheumatology We Should Cultivate

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1949 was a momentous year—astronomer Fred Hoyle coined the term Big Bang, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed, and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical South Pacific opened on Broadway.1 Much less recognized was the publication of an essay by Richard Asher, FRCP, titled the “Seven Sins of Medicine.”2 Although it’s over 75 years…

Editor’s Pick: Palliative Care for Inclusion Body Myositis, a Case Report

Kamini E. Kuchinad, MD, MPH, Ambereen Mehta, MD, MPH, David Wu, MD, & Jemima Albayda, MD  |  

Inclusion body myositis (IBM) is a slowly progressing muscle disease of unknown cause that currently has no effective treatment. IBM is the most common inflammatory myopathy in older individuals, with a rising prevalence of 18.2 per 100,000 in adults older than 50.1,2 The disease characteristically affects the quadriceps and finger flexors, and in later stages…

ACR Comments on 2025 Physician Fee Schedule

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The ACR’s response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services addresses the likely harm of the proposed conversion factor on the solvency and stability of rheumatology practices. The comments also include recommendations on complex drug administration coding, inflation-adjusted drug rebates and extending telehealth flexibilities.

Let’s Define Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease

Lucy Masto, BS, Medha Barbhaiya, MD, MPH, Caroline H. Siegel, MD, MS, Lisa R. Sammaritano, MD, & Michael D. Lockshin, MD  |  

Undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) is a diagnosis given to patients who do not fulfill current classification criteria for named connective tissue diseases (CTD)—systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic sclerosis (SSc), or Sjögren’s disease—but who nonetheless have clinical signs and symptoms and serological evidence of autoimmune CTDs. In 1980 LeRoy et al. were…