Rheumatology

We've entered a new arena of horror where our Richter scale, for the first time, doesn't seem to reach high enough, and adjectives are crumbling under the impact. "Devastation" or "catastrophe"? None of the usual descriptors feel powerful enough.

The main goal of this trial is to "evaluate the practical modalities and performance of the EULAR-RAID score in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have been prescribed etanercept as part of usual medical practice."

The aim of this study is to analyze the changes in the "clinical and radiographic course in subjects when etanercept treatment is tapered or discontinued."

Healthcare professionals who treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis should take this course as it offers a "unique format to obtain the latest and best scientific information regarding treatment and management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis."

Dr. Croke had a short interview with a young Haitian doctor about the earthquake.

View a demo of a We Care Solar Suitcase here. This tool was used by many healthcare professionals who spent time in Haiti

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 designated $87 billion for state Medicaid programs, enacting major increases in federal matching rates. Despite the boost from ARRA, state budgets have been groaning under the weight of the economic downturn, with 29 of them planning to make Medicaid cuts in 2010.

Rheumatologists and primary care physicians will find the "Rheumatoid Arthritis Virtual Grand Rounds" to be extremely beneficial. Hosted by experts in the field, 17 patient cases will help improve the quality of care provided through patient case studies and provide new information about the available treatments for rheumatoid arthritis.

How quickly we humans normalize even the most extreme scenario - as long as we see it over and over. By now, it seems perfectly normal for our fringed-draped bus to 4-wheel it over piles of rubble.

Last week Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the FDA has accepted for filing the New Drug Application for JZP-6 (sodium oxybate) for the treatment of fibromyalgia.

Even the predawn day began a little differently. The shrill distant stadium cheers of hundreds of Haitian roosters sounded oddly synchronized, as though perhaps they were doing the wave.

Mayo Clinic anesthesiologists have developed new protocols for joint replacement surgery that largely eliminate the need for general anesthesia and intravenous narcotics and the resulting side effects.

After six hours of unaccustomed sleep, I awoke like a mad pirate, with one red eye, hair askew, lurching and croaking.

There's something about the constant drone of a generator – the relentless, unremitting growl that hangs in the air. It's like the smell and the dust and the fear of the rainy season, the way it creeps under your skin so quickly, and then sinks so deepely that you're not even aware that you're aware of it. All the time.

Immediately after crossing from the DR into Haiti, you can see the visible downshift into a worse level of poverty.

Airports are bland portals scattered across the world. It's really when you step outside, walking down the cattle-chute ramp that's lined with well-wishers and people holding up hand-written signs - it's as you emerge, blinking into hot haze and the smell of moist, marinating diesel hits you, that's when you know you're somewhere else.

We had no problems, fortunately, getting into the country with all of our medicines.

If you look at the photo of what finally went into my personal bag to Haiti, it's hard to imagine how much thought and fretting and, frankly, geometric calculation was involved.

Researchers found that UV exposure resulted in greater positive affect, well-being, relaxation, and reduced pain levels when compared to non-UV exposure.

Over the past month, we've been monitoring reports that are coming back from friends who have been in Haiti providing care to try and get to places away from the hospital and hearing what they have been taking care of.

Doctors are relatively uninformed about healthcare systems, outcomes research or healthcare economics, specifically the costs of care and cost-benefit.

Haiti trip, 5 days and counting. The overriding question, for me, has become, just how bad is it?

Our expectations have changed a lot as we continue to see, every day, hundreds of tweets about current conditions.

What's been really important is for us to connect with the volunteers who've just returned from Haiti.

Recent study results indicate that women with gout face a greater risk of acute myocardial infarction than do men who have been diagnosed with gout.

Latino children received 30 percent less opioid analgesics than white children, most likely due to...

A study of a three-week treatment program for chronic pain revealed African Americans experienced worse outcomes compared to a matched group of Caucasians.

Roundup: Analgesic efficacy of Milnacipran; tolerability of Tapentadol; efficacy/safety of Tapentadol; epidural steroid injection; outcomes in osteoarthritis.

Roundup: PAIN BLITZ pilot project; dose stability of Tapentadol ER; failed back surgery syndrome; sympathetic nerve block; combined radiofrequency ablation.

Roundup: Neuropathic cancer pain; spinal/peripheral neuromodulation; comorbid depressive disorder; morphine and prialt IT therapies; spinal cord stimulation.