Jan. 25, 2013 Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified a potential new target for drugs to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a protein known as IRHOM2. The finding could provide an effective and potentially less toxic alternative therapy to tumor necrosis factor-alpha blockers (TNF-blockers), the mainstay of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, and could help patients who do not respond to this treatment. Efforts to develop drugs that hone in on this new target are underway. "This study is an elegant example of the capacity of basic science cell biologists to work with translational rheumatologists to address a clinically relevant question at a basic level," said Jane Salmon, M.D., Collette Kean Research Chair and co-director, Mary Kirkland Center for Lupus Research at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City, and an author of the study. "We have identified a clinically relevant target that can be applied to patients in the near term." The study will appear online, ahead of print, on January 25, in the Journal of Clinical Investigation and in the February 2013 print issue. Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease, is triggered, in large part, by TNF-alpha, a small signaling protein usually involved in launching … Continue reading →

Substance abuse problems among Ohio workers can result in workplace injuries, higher medical costs for their employers, more absenteeism and reduced productivity, according to survey data and experts. Employers pay on average $7,000 per employee annually to deal with unaddressed substance abuse problems among workers, according to some estimates. In the hopes of avoiding these and other troubles, many employers in Ohio screen job candidates for drugs and alcohol, and some randomly or routinely test their employees for intoxicating substances. Employers that drug test job applicants and current workers are less likely to have drug users on their payrolls, experts said. Companies across the region and Ohio that conduct drug tests have seen a decline in results that come back positive for drugs. But some experts warn that drug testing is not always effective to identify substance abuse, and simply taking punitive action against people who test positive can be counterproductive. Employers can say to applicants, I am going to give you a chance to come and work for me, but I am also going to be doing random drug testing, and if you come back with dirty urine, then Ill either refer you or terminate you, said Helen Jones-Kelley, … Continue reading →