Drug Helps Joint Pain, May Harm Bone

A new type of drug has shown promising results for pain relief in osteoarthritis. This is the most common type of arthritis. But other studies of the drug have been suspended because some people developed a serious side effect. The study included 450 people with osteoarthritis of the knee. They were randomly assigned to get either the new drug, tanezumab, or a placebo. They received 2 injections, 2 months apart. Researchers checked on how they were doing after 4 months. Those taking tanezumab reported improvements of 45% to 62% in their pain level. People who got the placebo reported an average 22% improvement. Joint function also improved more with the new drug. Later, however, arthritis got worse in 16 people who received the new drug. Some of their bone cells died, and they needed joint replacements. As a result, the U.S.