Every three years, two international organizations come together to share, discuss, and debate the most recent basic and clinical research findings in the area of multiple sclerosis (MS). The joint meeting, alternately hosted in North America and Europe, took place in Boston, Massachusetts September 10th through 13th.

The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA), a national nonprofit organization and leading resource for individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS), announces the launch of a new website addition accessed at mymsaa.org. Titled My Health Insurance Guide, this dedicated section provides comprehensive, easy-to-follow information and resources for the MS community about the Health Insurance Marketplace under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid.

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has formed a multidisciplinary team, including physicians, nurses, rehabilitation specialists, cognitive researchers, mental-health professionals, and patient advocates to improve overall patient outcomes. The group of experts reviewed current guidelines and evidence, gaps in care, and developed a “measurement set” for multiple sclerosis.

Experts from member organizations of the Multiple Sclerosis Coalition (MSC), including the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA), collaborated to develop and write a paper summarizing the current evidence that supports the FDA-approved disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for the long-term treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).

On August 15, 2014, Biogen Idec announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved Plegridy™ (peginterferon beta-1a) for the long-term treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Manufactured by Biogen Idec, this new medication is the 11th disease-modifying therapy (DMT) to be approved for MS since the early 1990s. Plegridy is given once every two weeks through a subcutaneous self-injection.

The largest and most comprehensive meeting on multiple sclerosis (MS) care and research in North America took place May 28 through May 31 in Dallas, Texas, combining the 28th Annual Meeting of CMSC and the 19th Annual Meeting of ACTRIMS. This is the sixth year both organizations have met together to bring researchers and clinicians from across the spectrum of MS care to share and discuss the latest research findings in MS.

The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) is pleased to announce that the newly published About MS booklet is now available as both a printed and online publication. MSAA’s About MS: An Overview of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Including Symptoms, Treatments, and Research offers an overview of multiple sclerosis including history, process and symptoms, types of MS, possible causes, diagnosing and evaluating disease activity, relapse management, and FDA-approved disease-modifying treatments. Also included are highlights of some of MSAA’s programs and services available to the MS community.