Leflunomide (Arava): time to change prescribing recommendations? Part 1

Derby, UK - Many rheumatologists are routinely
disregarding a lot of the prescribing recommendations for the
disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) leflunomide (Arava, Aventis), a new scrutiny of British specialists shows.

Infrequent
use of a shipment dose, lot to recommend that patients avoid beverage
completely while taking the drug, not using a unsuccessful person to
transferee patients from leflunomide to another DMARD, and union the
drug with methotrexate were among the bad habits demonstrated in the
study, conducted by Drs S Rajakulendran and C Deighton (Derby Canvass Infirmary, UK) and reported in the November 2007 offspring of Rheumatology [1].

“These
discrepancies between clinical recitation and the recommendations of
the summary of result characteristics [SPC] can be interpreted in 2
ways,” say Rajakulendran and Deighton.

“The offset
reading is that the SPC is too restrictive, and increasing cognitive
content with the drug is influencing assurance in deviating from
recommendations.” The other way to view this is that consultants have
become too relaxed in their timing to the prescribing and monitoring of
leflunomide, they suggest.

Rajakulendran and Deighton sent questionnaires
to 72 consultant rheumatologists in the Midlands area of the UK to
evaluate the flow prescribing utilization with leflunomide.
The resume asked about the the great unwashed: the preferential
organisation of DMARDs in practice session and the neighborhood of
leflunomide; the ceremonial of leflunomide and whether the freight dose
of 100 mg for 3 days was used; advice on inebriant consumption; use of
a soil erosion software system on changing leflunomide to another
DMARD; use of collection therapy with methotrexate; and the rate of
monitoring liquid body substance and bloodline somaesthesia.

This is a part of article Leflunomide (Arava): time to change prescribing recommendations? Part 1 Taken from "Arava Information" Information Blog