Spondylitis News: September 2011

On a personal level, I continue to do well on piroxicam; I haven’t felt this good — this mobile, this energetic — in years. It’s important to share good news when it comes, I think.

Speaking of news:

Britain’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended golimumab (Simponi) for the treatment of ankylosing spondlyitis in certain circumstances; it joins fellow TNFα blockers adalimumab (Humira) and etanercept (Enbrel).

Meanwhile, the FDA announced that the boxed warning for TNFα blockers as a class will be updated to include the increased risk of infection from Legionella and Listeria. AAP News, Clinical Advisor, MedPage Today.

I’ve always been ambivalent about these despite-his-limitation stories that are meant to inspire the healthy. Here’s another one: the Ventura County Star profiles 18-year-old Zachary Payer, who was diagnosed with AS seven years ago.