Initiating and Switching DMARDs and Biologics: Highlights of the Updated ACR Guidelines

(AUDIO) Concurrent with a new guideline on how to assess the severity of rheumatoid arthritis, the American College of Rheumatology has updated its 2008 guidelines on treatment. The new update deals specifically with DMARDs and biologics, with a new focus on how and when to switch between them. In a recorded interview, the principal investigator of the update process discusses what's new in the guidelines. Dr. Jasvinder Singh is associate professor of medicine at the University of Alabama Medical Center in Birmingham, and staff physician at the Birmingham VA Medical Center.

The questions:

♦  Why is now the right time to update these guidelines?
♦  The guidelines mention testing for tuberculosis. Is this something new for the guidelines, or have they been changed?
♦  What's new in the guidelines about vaccinations?
♦  Are there any set plans for the next updates to these guidelines? 

Initiating and Switching DMARDs and Biologics: Highlights of the Updated ACR Guidelines

The updated guideline:

2012 Update of the 2008 American College of Rheumatology Recommendations for the Use of Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs and Biologic Agents in the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis
(From the American College of Rheumatology website)