Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug therapy. An expensive therapy despite inexpensive drugs.

In a study of the costs for drug therapy, 81 patients with rheumatoid arthritis taking parenteral gold, penicillamine or chloroquine were included. The patients were assessed for costs, directly and indirectly caused by the therapy, during a 12-week period. The three therapy groups were comparable in terms of number of patients, sex, age and duration of disease. There were substantial differences in costs for therapy between the three disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Treatment with parenteral gold gave the highest cost, 2.2 times that of chloroquine and 1.4 times the cost of penicillamine. The cost for the antirheumatic drug constituted a minor part of the total cost (4.4-15.4%). The need for patient visits for treatment and safety controls was a major factor in the overall cost.