The mother of a 15-year-old patient with juvenile idiopathic arthritis/enthesitis-related arthritis (JIA/ERA) called the office in tears. She said she was having an insurance problem. Her son had been a star track athlete when he developed severe back pain. Magnetic resonance imaging showed evidence of severe sacroiliitis. He was started on a tumor necrosis factor…
This summer, the FDA rejected a new drug application for filgotinib to treat RA in the U.S., but a European Medicines Agency committee issued a positive opinion, moving filgotinib closer to authorized use in the E.U.
When the first laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 case was reported by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) on Jan. 22, it was difficult to predict an ensuing global pandemic would last for more than half the year. Approximately one week after the initial CDC report, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) declared…
Nancy Bates Allen, MD, now professor emeritus, Duke University Medical School, Division of RheumaÂtology and Immunology, Durham, N.C., created a legacy of clinical care, clinical research, advocacy for women and collegial respect during her 42-year career at Duke. David S. Caldwell, MD, FACP, FACR, associate professor of medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, says, “[I’m]…
EULAR 2020 e-CONGRESS—In what speakers at the European e-Congress of Rheumatology described as the first treat-to-target and tight control (T2T/TC) strategy trial in axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA), researchers found such a strategy has both health and financial benefits. In the year-long study—called TICOSPA—centers were randomized to apply either a T2T/TC strategy or care left to the…
A 67–year-old white woman with primary Raynaud’s phenomenon presented following a week of progressively worsening shortness of breath, dry cough and generalized malaise. An avid tennis player, she first noticed dyspnea while playing, but a few days later grew short of breath even at rest. She went to an urgent care center, where a computed…
In a December 2019 editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the implications of diagnostic error were explored through the story of two parents, both medical professionals, who sought a diagnosis for their sick child.1 Their son saw specialist after specialist and underwent repeated procedures, but for years was left without an explanation…
I have always been dissatisfied with the apparent dichotomy between researchers and clinicians; this is a false divide. Yes, research includes laboratory-based investigation, clinical trials, and retrospective and prospective studies of disease entities, among other pursuits. However, clinicians also contribute to research by sharing clinical data and through observations of their patients. Clinicians’ daily contributions…
Serological testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies may play a critical role in the management of the worldwide health crisis. Such testing may reveal key information for epidemiology, convalescent plasma therapies and vaccine development. However, the situation is complex, and much is unknown. Although such testing may ultimately be used to…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Immunomodulatory therapy is not recommended for most children with COVID-19 who typically will have a mild to moderate course of illness, experts advise in a guidance document in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.1 For children with severe or critical COVID-19, immunomodulatory agents “may be beneficial,” but the risks and…