Together, Arthritis Drugs Work Better

Study: Combination Of New, Old Drugs Eases Pain, Swelling

BOSTON, Mass., Posted 5:40 p.m. January 27, 1999 -- There's new help for people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.

Researchers say etanercept, a newly approved genetically engineered drug for rheumatoid arthritis, appears to ease pain and swelling significantly better when combined with methotrexate, the standard medicine.

Dr. Michael Weinblatt, director of clinical rheumatology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, headed the study. He says pain and swelling decreased noticeably in 71 percent of patients getting both drugs for six weeks, compared with 27 percent getting methotrexate and a dummy shot.

The treatment doesn't come cheap, though. Immunex, which markets the drug under the name Enbrel, prices it at 12-thousand dollars a year.

The study is reported in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Copyright 1999 by The Associated Press