March 25, 2024 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Unmet MS care needs prevalent among patients in Italy: Survey Almost all of the nearly 700 people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Italy who responded to a patient survey reported at least one unmet MS care need ā ranging from insufficient access to primary care, social interactions, assistance, doctor-patient relationships, and information about the neurodegenerative disease. More than half…
January 24, 2024 News by Andrea Lobo, PhD Healthcare utilization increases in the year before MS diagnosis: Study People with multiple sclerosis (MS) utilize more healthcare resources a year before their MS diagnosis, suggesting this may be a period of prodromal MS, when patients start having unspecific and mild MS symptoms. These might include mild cognitive issues, skin problems, and anemia, when the body doesn’t have…
November 25, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Dr. Amazon Takes a Third Jab at Medical Care For the past few years, the company that brings us everything from books to basketballs has been experimenting with doing the same with medical care. Of course, it’s Amazon. In 2018, the company launched a project called Haven in partnership with a pair of financial giants, with the goal…
August 12, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Dr. Amazon Will See You Now: Online Retail Giant to Acquire Healthcare Services Company Are you ready to buy your healthcare services from the same place you can buy almost everything else under the sun? Amazon hopes you are. Last month, the giant of online sales announced plans to acquire One Medical, a company that operates more than 125 medical offices across…
April 1, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Dr. Glaucomflecken and Other Healthcare Jokers This column is being published on April 1. When I was in the journalism profession, that was a day we had to be on guard against pranksters who would try to trick us into reporting phony April Fools’ Day news items. So, I need to be very clear about this…
January 17, 2022 News by Mary Chapman ‘No Surprises Act’ Aims to Rein In Out-of-network Billing in US Under rules in the No Surprises Act, insured patients people in the U.S., including those with multiple sclerosis, should no longer receive unexpected medical bills for emergency care or for treatment from out-of-network providers at facilities in their network. The act, which became effective on Jan. 1, prohibits…
August 5, 2021 News by Steve Bryson, PhD Canadian Patients Say Their Top Concern Is Access to MS Providers Accessing healthcare providers knowledgeable about multiple sclerosis (MS) and being able to afford additional services to improve overall health were the most pressing healthcare concerns among Canadians with the condition, a survey suggests. āThese findings provide healthcare planners prioritized concerns and a profile of [people with MS] that have…
February 4, 2021 News by Diana Campelo Delgado Telemedicine Found Effective During Italy’s COVID-19 Lockdown Telemedicine is a feasible and effective method of remote care for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, an Italian study suggests. The study, āTelemedicine during the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Outpatients Service Perspective,ā was published in the journal Neurology International. The…
January 8, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Can Amazon Lower Healthcare Costs? The answer to whether Amazon, in partnership with a pair of financial giants, can make healthcare more accessible and less expensive for its workers is: Apparently, it can’t. About two years after rolling out a project known as Haven, the plug is being pulled. The idea had been for…
November 10, 2020 News by David Melamed, PhD Israel Grants Owlytics $1.3M to Develop Wearable AI Device to Improve MS Care The Israeli Innovation Authority has awarded Owlytics Healthcare a $1.3-million grant to support the company’s development of wearable artificial intelligence (AI) technology that has the potential to improve multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies and better evaluate treatment efficacy in clinical studies. The device would be able to continuously…
September 18, 2020 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD National MS Society Launches Survey to Assess Economic Impact of MS The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, together with the Lewin Group, has launched a survey to assess the economic impact multiple sclerosis (MS) has on patients and their families. In the survey, which can be found here, MS patients and/or their family members are asked to answer…
July 23, 2020 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD UK Health Services Failing MS Patient Needs Under Pandemic, Survey Finds A vast majority ā 7 out of every 10 ā healthcare professionals working with multiple sclerosis (MS) patients across the U.K. believe health services are failing to meet their needs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an online survey conducted by theĀ MS SocietyĀ and the MS…
May 20, 2020 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Glatopa Shows Efficacy Similar to Copaxone, Study in Real-world Use Finds Glatopa, a generic form ofĀ Copaxone, is as effective as the brand-name medication in terms of disease outcomes and has similar healthcare-related costs in real-world use in patients with relapsingĀ multiple sclerosis (MS), a new U.S. study suggests. Data also suggest a trend toward lower relapse rates with Glatopa…
January 3, 2020 News by Alejandra Viviescas, PhD DMT Use Linked to Fewer Hospitalizations Among Adults with MS in Canadian Province The growing reliance on disease-modifying therapies (DMTs)Ā to treat people with multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā has led to fewer hospitalizations but not a drop in the number of physician visits, a population study of DMTs and their impact on healthcare use in Canada reports. The study, “Association between…
December 4, 2019 News by Catarina Silva CMSC Joins NeurologyLive Program for Specialists Caring for Those with MS, Like Diseases NeurologyLive, a platform for healthcare specialists, has added The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) to its Strategic Alliance Partnership program that works to share insights and experiences to benefit people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and their families. A collaborative mix of neurological centers, networks, and…
October 7, 2019 News by Marisa Wexler, MS RRMS Patients Not Using DMTs More Likely to Have Been Misdiagnosed, Cite Poorer Relationships with Doctors, Survey Says People with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who don’t use disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are more likely to have been misdiagnosed previously, and to have poorer relationships with their healthcare providers, the results of a new survey suggest. The survey, titled “Multiple Sclerosis In America 2019,” was conducted byĀ …
September 4, 2019 Columns by Cathy Chester Ageism in Clinical Trials and Healthcare The idea, they say, is to keep having birthdays, and I agree. I see aging as a precious gift, and when you live with multiple sclerosis (MS), that gift is even more golden with each passing year. We earn every wrinkle, gain new…
May 17, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Is a Pain, and Doctors Should Know It Dear Doctor, Why is it that you, or at least some of your colleagues, think that multiple sclerosis isn’t painful? Did you skip the med school class where they discussed MS?Ā Are you not a neurologist, or are you a neurologist who doesn’t specialize in MS? Whatever the reason, this “MS…
May 8, 2019 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #AANAM – Research Suggests Misconceptions About MS Risk in Pregnant Women New research suggests that even though pregnant women with multiple sclerosis (MS) are often viewed as high risk by their physicians, pregnancy Ā does not seem to increase the likelihood of adverse obstetrical outcomes for those patients or their babies. The research was presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting…
May 6, 2019 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #AANAM ā DMTs Primarily Responsible for Rising Healthcare Costs for MS Patients, Study Suggests A trend of rapidly increasing costs for disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) appear to be the primary driver behind the overall rise in healthcare costs for people with MS, a study suggests. These data were presentedĀ in a…
May 3, 2019 News by Marisa Wexler, MS #AANAM – Precision Innovative Network and Splice Machine Will Present Predictive Healthcare Application at AAN Meeting A new clinical application prototype that uses machine learning to help physicians predict the best treatment options for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) will be unveiled at theĀ American Academy of Neurology’s 2019 annual meetingĀ May 4ā10, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The prototype is called PIN Population Data Platform. It has been…
March 26, 2019 News by Santiago Gisler AscellaHealth Highlights Support Program for MS Patients in Recognition of MS Awareness Month In recognition of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month, AscellaHealth, aĀ national pharmacy benefit management company, is calling attention to its clinical and educational program designed to assist individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). The program plan is intended to offer specialty pharmacy strategies to help manage costly and complex…
February 8, 2019 News by Jonathan Grinstein #ACTRIMS2019 – Upcoming Forum Will Include Interactive, Case-based Discussion About MS Therapeutic Landscape TheĀ Physiciansā Education ResourceĀ will host an interactive, case-based discussion on the latest therapeutics in multiple sclerosis (MS). The free educational program, part of the 2019 Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) ForumĀ (Feb. 28 -March 2), aims to inform…
February 7, 2019 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: The Importance of Self-advocacy Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic, āWith MS I have learned the importance of…
February 4, 2019 News by Jonathan Grinstein Gait Disorders and Depression at Onset May Delay Time to MS Diagnosis, Study Finds Awareness of certain symptoms, particularly gait disorders and depression, could be critical for reducing the time it takes to diagnose multiple sclerosisĀ after a patient first contacts a healthcare provider, research shows. In the past 30 years, there has been a major decrease in the time from the…
November 9, 2018 News by Alberto Molano, PhD Study Highlights Need for Better Engagement Between MS Patients and Healthcare Providers Multiple sclerosis (MS) relapses can be challenging for some patients, and better engagement is needed between patients and their healthcare providers, a study focused on patient experiences has found. The study, titled āRelapse prevalence, symptoms, and health care engagement: patient insights from the Multiple Sclerosis in America 2017 survey,ā…
October 16, 2018 News by BioNews Staff #ECTRIMS2018 – MS PATHS Just Starting to See Potential, Aims for Remission as Treatment Goal, Biogen Exec Says MS PATHS, a way of capturing data on disease progression and treatment response in thousands of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients being treated at any of 10 participating clinics, has among its goals that of making clinical remission ā a prolonged absence of any disease activity ā possible, said an…
October 9, 2018 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD Pregnancy Rates Rise Among Women with MS Over Past Decade in US, Study Shows In recent years, pregnancy rates have increased among women with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the United States, according to a retrospective study, but the rate of pregnancy complications is similar between women with MS and those who don’t have the disease. The study, “Pregnancy rates and outcomes in…
September 13, 2018 News by Mary Chapman Video Testimonials Extol Benefits of PACE to Patients, Caregivers and Elderly Cassandra Jefferson of Chattanooga, Tennessee, didnāt want to put her mother, who has multiple sclerosis, in a nursing home, but she had begun to realize that she might have no choice. The required care was getting to be too much for Jefferson, who worked long hours before rushing home to…
July 26, 2018 News by Iqra Mumal, MSc Machine Learning Platform Can Accurately Predict Onset of MS, Maker Says IQuity, a data analytics company, announced the launch of an analytics platform that uses machine learning to predict, identify, and monitor chronic disease within large populations of patients, including multiple sclerosis (MS). The platform was validated using a pilot study that assessed the healthcare claims of 20 million people…