Gold and penicillamine therapy: is shared care with general practitioners effective and safe?

One hundred patients with definite or classical rheumatoid arthritis were commenced on gold or penicillamine therapy. The patient's general practitioner was asked to participate in monitoring these patients. No reduction in efficacy or increase in serious adverse effects was present in this shared-care group. A 65% reduction in hospital clinic visits was achieved thus allowing more patients to benefit from this therapy.