Multiple Sclerosis

Paul Wicks, PhD, vice president of innovation at PatientsLikeMe, discussed the benefits of using technology in multiple sclerosis research by patients, providers, researchers, and other decision-makers.

Despite the benefit of having more choices than ever before to treat patients with multiple sclerosis, the abundance of options has led to more complexity, according to speakers at the 2014 ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Joint Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

As a medium, the Internet neither helps nor harms in multiple sclerosis care - what matters is how clinicians and patients engage in that medium, according to Paul Wicks, PhD, vice president of innovation at PatientsLikeMe.

At this year's ECTRIMS conference in Boston, Alasdair Coles, MD, University of Cambridge, discussed alemtuzumab and its effectiveness in treating multiple sclerosis.

The second year of the extension study of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) for multiple sclerosis reported positive interim results with 70% of patients not requiring a third course of treatment.

Although there have been significant advances in multiple sclerosis management, patient preferences need to be taken into account before choosing treatment, according to speakers at the 2014 ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Joint Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Patients with multiple sclerosis want to be actively engaged in their treatment decisions, which will help their long-term health and medication adherence, according to speakers at the 2014 ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Joint Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

The treatment landscape for multiple sclerosis continues to get more complex month to month, which makes biomarker discovery increasingly important for treating the disease, said Suhayl Dhib-Jalbut, MD, professor at the Rutgers University Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, during his session at the 2014 Joint ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Although the survival rate of natalizumab-associated progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is better than PML in HIV patients, long-term they may need some assistance and care, Ralf Gold, Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, said at the 2014 Joint ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Advanced imaging techniques are becoming necessary to further understanding of the progression of multiple sclerosis, according to presenters at the 2014 Joint ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, from September 10-13.

When choosing treatment for a patient, whether he or she has a clinically isolated syndrome or clinically definite multiple sclerosis, providers need to establish a collaborative relationship, according to speakers at the 2014 Joint ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Even as the cost of prescription drugs has plummeted for many Americans, a small slice of the population is being asked to shoulder more and more of the cost of expensive treatments for diseases like cancer and hepatitis C, according to a report to be released on Tuesday by a major drug research firm.

Those with chronic illnesses such as leukemia, hepatitis C, and multiple sclerosis may face a significant increase in their out-of-pocket expenses for specialty drugs. This is because payers are replacing fixed-dollar copayments with coinsurance rates that require patients to contribute a higher percentage of the cost for their specialty medications.

This week AJMC is covering session highlights from the PBMI Annual Drug Benefit conference.