Oral MS Therapies: Findings From Clinical Trials and Immunologic Studies

Guest Reviewers for This Activity

Patricia K. Coyle, MD

Professor and Vice-Chair of Neurology
Director, Stony Brook MS Comprehensive Care Center
Department of Neurology
Stony Brook University Medical Center
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, New York

Anthony Traboulsee, MD

University of British Columbia
Multiple Sclerosis/Magnetic Resonance
Imaging Research Group
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Activity Details

Credit Types:	CME
Credit Amount:	0.75 Credits
Release Date:	2011-Dec-20
Expiration Date:	2012-Dec-20
Estimated Time for Completion:	45 minutes
Registration Required:	No
Cost:	Free

Accredited by

Jointly sponsored by Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and Expert Medical Education.

This activity is supported by an educational grant from Teva Neuroscience.

Target Audience

This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of physicians involved in the management of patients with neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Statement of Need/ Program Overview

Neurologists caring for patients with chronic, often nonfatal, neurodegenerative diseases continue to need information on basic disease pathology, etiology, indicators of disease progression, and available treatment to achieve the best outcomes for their patients, who require management over a relatively long period of time (>5 years). Research in the field of neurodegenerative illnesses is constantly yielding new insights and findings that alter the understanding of the underlying disease processes, and much of this research is presented at scientific congresses, such as the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. Neura Covers presents the most relevant and up-to-date data on neurodegenerative diseases to reach a larger part of the neurologist community.

Educational Objectives

After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to 1) compare results of clinical trial data on treatments that are currently available or under investigation for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, 2) communicate risks and benefits of various treatment approaches, 3) integrate emerging evidence-based approaches into the management of respective neurodegenerative diseases and within special patient populations, and 4) describe the impact of neurodegenerative disease symptoms and characteristics on patient functioning and quality of life.

Faculty

The members of the Neura editorial advisory board who have reviewed this content, are listed above.

Accreditation Statement

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint sponsorship of Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and Expert Medical Education. The Postgraduate Institute for Medicine is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Credit Designation

The Postgraduate Institute for Medicine designates this enduring material for a maximum of 0.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Disclosure of Conflict of Interest

Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) assesses conflict of interest with its instructors, planners, managers, and other individuals who are in a position to control the content of CME activities. All relevant conflicts of interest that are identified are thoroughly vetted by PIM for fair balance, scientific objectivity of studies utilized in this activity, and patient care recommendations. PIM is committed to providing its learners with high quality CME activities and related materials that promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest or a commercial interest.

The reviewers of this activity have reported their financial relationships or relationships to products or devices they or their spouses or life partners have with commercial interests related to the content of this CME activity. The editors have the following relationships to disclose.

PATRICIA K. COYLE, MD: Consulting fees: Acorda Therapeutics, Biogen Idec, Bayer Healthcare, EMD Serono, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, Teva Neuroscience/Teva Pharmaceutical Industries; Speakers' bureaus: Bayer Healthcare, Biogen Idec; Contracted Research: Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis.

ANTHONY TRABOULSEE, MD: Consulting fees: Merck Serono, Roche; Speakers' bureaus: Bayer Healthcare, Biogen Idec, EMD Serono, Teva Neuroscience/Teva Pharmaceutical Industries; Contracted Research: Bayer Healthcare, Biogen Idec, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, MS Society of Canada.

The planners and managers reported the following financial relationships or relationships to products or devices they or their spouses/life partners have with commercial interests related to the content of this CME activity.

The following PIM planners and managers, Jan Hixon, RN, BSN, MA, Trace Hutchison, PharmD, Julia Kimball, RN, BSN, Samantha Mattiucci, PharmD, Jan Schultz, RN, MSN, CCMEP, and Patricia Staples, MSN, NP-C, CCRN, hereby state that they and their spouse/life partner do not have any financial relationships or relationships to products or devices with any commercial interest related to the content of this activity of any amount during the past 12 months.

The following Expert Medical Education staff members, Melissa Carter-Özhan, Anneke Schwob, and Jennifer L. Shoemaker, PhD, hereby state that they or their spouse/life partner do not have any financial relationships or relationships to products or devices with any commercial interest related to the content of this activity of any amount during the past 12 months.

Method of Participation and Request for Credit

There are no fees for participating and receiving CME credit for this activity. During the period December 20, 2011, through December 20, 2012, participants must read the learning objectives and faculty disclosures and study the educational activity.

PIM supports Green CME by offering your Request for Credit online. If you wish to receive acknowledgment for completing this activity, please complete the post-test and evaluation on www.cmeuniversity.com. On the navigation menu, click on “Find Post-test/Evaluation by Course” and search by course ID 8446. Upon registering and successfully completing the post-test with a score of 70% or better and the activity evaluation, your certificate will be made available immediately. Processing credit requests online will reduce the amount of paper used by nearly 100,000 sheets per year.

Media

Journal supplement

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use

This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM), Expert Medical Education, and Teva Neuroscience do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications.

The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of PIM, Expert Medical Education, or Teva Neuroscience. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Disclaimer

Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient’s conditions and possible contraindications or dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities.

Neura: Perspectives on CNS Disease Management is supported by an educational grant from Teva Neuroscience and is published by Expert Medical Education, 1875 Eye Street, NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20006.

The opinions herein do not reflect those of the editorial board of Neura: Perspectives on CNS Disease Management, Expert Medical Education, or Teva Neuroscience. On all matters of pertinent coverage, the editorial board’s decisions are final.