Major disparities in access to newest RA drugs across Europe

The cost of one year’s treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with new-generation drugs is more than the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of 26 European countries, reveals research published online in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. This means that 320 million people — 40 per cent of Europe’s population — who could benefit from treatment with disease modifying drugs (DMARDs) would struggle to get access to them, said the researchers. DMARDs are extremely effective for the treatment of RA, and the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) recommends the use of synthetic DMARDs immediately after diagnosis to halt progress…