NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Long-term rituximab use lowers the chance of relapse of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis (AAV), compared with standard maintenance therapy, according to a report from the MAINRITSAN3 randomized trial. “Physicians should consider AAV to be a long-lasting, chronic disease which requires maintenance therapy,” says Dr. Pierre Charles of Cochin Hospital, Paris…
Recent research found women with COPD and asthma—even those who have never smoked—are at a higher risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis…
CHICAGO (Reuters)—Cancer patients with COVID-19 who were treated with a drug combination promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump to counter the coronavirus were three times more likely to die within 30 days than those who got either drug alone, U.S. researchers reported on May 28. The preliminary results suggest doctors may want to refrain from…
(Reuters Health)—U.S. commercial health plans only covered biosimilar treatments as preferred products in 14% of coverage decisions last year, according to an analysis of publicly available data on coverage decisions.1 Researchers examined records from the Tufts Medical Center Specialty Drug Evidence and Coverage (SPEC) database, which has information on coverage decisions made by 17 of…
SHANGHAI (Reuters)—China’s health tracking QR codes, which have played a key part in the country’s successful containment of COVID-19, now look set to play a much broader role in daily life as local authorities dream up new uses for the technology. Embedded in the popular WeChat and Alipay smartphone apps, the codes use self-reported and…
(Reuters Health)—Most Medicare Advantage plans are not offering chronically ill enrollees supplemental benefits to address social needs, which were added to the government health program in 2018 in an effort to improve health outcomes and achieve cost savings, a U.S. study suggests.1 Researchers examined publicly available data on benefits and plan design for Medicare Advantage…
(Reuters)—Malaria drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), which U.S. President Donald Trump says he has been taking, is tied to increased risk of death in COVID-19 patients, according to a study published in The Lancet.1 The registry analysis, which included data from 671 hospitals in six continents and over 96,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, showed that people treated…
LONDON (Reuters)—On May 21, British healthcare workers began taking part in a University of Oxford-led international trial of two anti-malarial drugs to see if they can prevent COVID-19, including one U.S. President Donald Trump says he has been taking. The COPCOV study will involve more than 40,000 frontline healthcare workers from Europe, Africa, Asia and…
Interactive rheumatology education has flourished online thanks to grassroots efforts & ACR support…
A recent study compared three clinical criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients using certolizumab, assessing the predictability of treatment non-response. Researchers found Clinical Disease Activity Index measurement at three months may predict patient outcomes at 12 months…