When I first learned that my insurance required me to use a specialty pharmacy for my biologic medication, it didn’t sound too bad. My first baby was only a few months old, so having the medication delivered rather than having to drag my infant to the local pharmacy...
The challenges of medication adherence in children are as diverse as the populations we serve. Among other things, adherence in children can be affected by parental beliefs, medication taste, smells or side effects, pain associated with route of administration, peer...
I have been caring for KN, a 57-year-old woman with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) for approximately 9 months. When she initially presented to our office, she had oligoarthritis, sacroiliitis, and nail involvement. Her medication history included an inadequate response to...
When I started in rheumatology practice 11 years ago, we had few options at our disposal to treat patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The initial batch of anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) inhibitors had arrived, but they were the only “big guns” out there....
Everyone pursues a nursing career for slightly different reasons, but at its core, we’re all striving for one basic goal—to help our patients be healthier and live a longer, fuller life. Of course, there are a number of roles we can take on to achieve this goal, some...
There are few phrases that strike a more dramatic tone than “bariatric surgery.” The general perception is that this is a last-ditch option for individuals who have been unable to lose weight through a variety of other mechanisms. With the rise in demand for this...
It’s impossible to get through a day without hearing about or seeing an article focused on the current opioid crisis in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 32,445 Americans died from overdoses involving prescription opioid...
Dear Clinician: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are the most commonly used type of cancer immunotherapy. Unfortunately, these agents can cause a number of immune-related adverse events (irAEs), including rheumatologic complications. The Rheumatology Nurses Society...
MDis a 51-year-old woman who first came to our practice approximately 12 years ago with complaints of diffuse joint pain. Her recent history included pain in her lower back, bilateral knee osteoarthritis, and hip pain. Her weight was certainly a significant issue—MD...
I had a new patient, LO, come to me following a referral from urgent care in March 2017. Her urgent care visit was prompted by joint swelling and pain in her hands and wrists, certainly not an unusual combination in our new patients. Among LO’s issues was the fact...