Multiple Sclerosis

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.

Patricia Coyle, MD, director, MS Comprehensive Care Center, Stony Brook Neurosciences Institute, professor and vice chair of clinical affairs, Department of Neurology, SUNY at Stony Brook, says that prognostically, the earlier you treat multiple sclerosis the better.

The gold standard for measuring treatment outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS) is the randomized clinical trial (RCT). However, RCTs are often short-sighted and biased in their execution. Dr Maria Sormani, PhD, Biostatistics Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy, addressed this problem in a lecture on immunomodulatory treatment of MS.

In this video, Fred Lublin, MD, Saunders Family professor of neurology, director, The Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, discussed the results of his poster presentation, Natalizumab Reduces the Disabling Amplitude of Multiple Sclerosis Relapses and Improves Post-relapse Residual Disability.

Clinical trials and treatment in multiple sclerosis (MS) place an unwelcome economic burden upon countries with MS prevalence. With rising costs and a growing interest in MS clinical trials from emerging countries, new studies are needed to evaluate the significance of these factors.

Fatigue and cognitive impairment are 2 of the most common health problems associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). Recent MS studies evaluate the nature of these 2 conditions not just as side effects of MS, but as chronic conditions with varying degrees of severity based on objective assessment and self-perception.

Barry Singer, MD, director, MS Center for Innovations in Care, St. Louis, MO, said that the Affordable Care Act could cause challenges in terms of coverage.

New disease-modifying drugs in multiple sclerosis (MS) show potential for improving quality-of-life (QoL) of patients with multiple sclerosis. The clinical benefits of dimethyl fumarate and PR-fampridine were discussed at a Biogen Idec-sponsored satellite symposium at the 29th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS).

Daniel Kantor, MD, medical director, Neurologique, immediate past president, Florida Society of Neurology, said that after an initial diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) is made, providers must compare risks versus benefits when choosing which agent to treat with.

Recent discussions of risk gene variation and pharmacogenitc studies were highlighted at a parallel session during the 29th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) have identified over 100 common risk variants in just over a quarter of observed heritability.

Predictors of long-term disability and treatment failure in multiple sclerosis were discussed at a platform presentation during the 29th Congress European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). In the first presentation discussed here, Marzia Romeo, MD, San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy, shared findings from an observational study examining the viability of early prediction of long-term treatment failure in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients treated with disease-modifying treatments (DMT).

At a satellite symposium during the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) conference, presenters focused upon the usage of disease-modifying treatments (DMT) in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

Self-reporting among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients was the focus of 2 posters during a Quality of Life (QoL) poster session at the 29th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS).