Six people taking ‘miracle cure’ arthritis drug die

SIX people taking a drug for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis have died in Ireland, according to the Irish Medicines Board (IMB).

The drug, Humira, hailed by doctors as a miracle cure, was behind “six adverse reaction reports in Ireland that resulted in a fatal outcome in patients treated with Humira”, the IMB said.

However, the regulator for prescribed drugs warned the deaths could have been the result of “underlying infections” and not directly attributable to the drug. Yesterday a spokesperson for the IMB said the drug is prescribed “under very specialised conditions to treat a very serious illness”.