Treatment of Active Rheumatoid Arthritis With Leflunomide Compared With Placebo and Methotrexate

Abstract
CURRENT treatments for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), low-dose steroids, and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). The active control drug for this study, methotrexate, is considered to be the "gold standard" DMARD for the treatment of RA.1-4 No currently available medication is uniformly effective, however, and all may cause significant adverse effects.5