Combining a Biologic Agent with Methotrexate in the Treatment of RA
Course Description
Statement of Need
Prior evaluation has looked at adding etanercept either as monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who were non-responders or partial responders to methotrexate. The TEMPO study has looked at methotrexate and etanercept alone vs the combination of methotrexate and etanercept in methotrexate-naïve patients. The importance of this study to clinical rheumatologists in their day-to-day care of patients is that it is the first study to demonstrate that combination of biologics and traditional DMARD's is superior to either given as monotherapy.
Target Audience
This program is designed to educate health care professionals including Rheumatologists, Orthopaedic Surgeons, Radiologists, Residents, Fellows and Primary Care Physicians.
Objectives
The objective of any CME program is to improve patient care.
As a result of attending this program, participants will be able to:
- Increase knowledge of management options in RA, especially regarding biologic agents in combination with methotrexate
- Increase knowledge of the ways in which therapeutic trials in RA are designed, and the implications of each type of design, and ways to evaluate if a particular study is relevant to the patient the physician is treating.
Accreditation
Weill Medical College of Cornell University is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Weill Medical College of Cornell University designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category I credit(s). Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extend of their participation in the activity.
Evaluation
The CME Evaluation Form may be completed on-line. CME certificates will be mailed to participants.
Faculty Disclosure
It is the policy of Weill Medical College of Cornell University to adhere to ACCME Essential Areas, Policies, and Standards for Commercial Support in order to ensure fair balance, independence, objectivity and scientific rigor in all its sponsored programs. All faculty participating in sponsored programs are expected to disclose to the audience any potential, apparent, or real conflict of interest related to their contribution to the activity, and any discussions of off-label or investigational uses of any commercial products or devices not yet approved in the United States. All disclosures will be made at the time of this CME activity.
Joseph A. Markenson, MD
Research Support - Amgen, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Gentiva, and Abbott Laboratories
Consultant - Amgen, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, and Abbott Laboratories
Speakers Bureau - Amgen, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Laboratories, and Boehringer Ingelheim
Does not intend to discuss the off-label or investigational use of products
Theodore R. Fields, MD
Has no significant relationship to disclose
Does not discuss the off-label or investigational use of products
Program Faculty
Joseph A. Markenson, MD
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Attending Physician, Department of Medicine, Rheumatology Division
Hospital for Special Surgery
Theodore R. Fields, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Associate Attending Physician, Department of Medicine
Hospital for Special Surgery
The Program
- How to Understand Clinical Trials in Rheumatoid Arthritis, with an emphasis on trials of combination therapy vs monotherapy.
- The TEMPO trial: a new way to look at combination therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Fee
This program is offered at no cost.
Availability
Original approval: January 2004
Renewed: January 2006
Expires: January 2007
Program Format
This program is available online in text or video formats. To obtain CME credit, physicians must register for the course, view it, achieve a score of 100% on the test questions and submit an evaluation form. This program should take approximately one hour to complete.
Please note: CME credit is no longer available for this course.
System Requirements
In order to view this program, you will need either Internet Explorer, version 5.5 or newer or Netscape, version 6.0 or newer. In addition, you need Real Player if you wish to view the video presentation. Download a free version of Real Player.
Hospital for Special Surgery and Weill Medical College gratefully acknowledge funding in part from a generous unrestricted educational grant from Amgen.
