Britain's National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has stated that oral methotrexate tablets are safe and effective if taken at the right frequency and the right dose. The drug is normally taken weekly, not daily. Confusion over the correct dosing schedule can cause serious harm. England is focused on making changes to eliminate human error in prescribing and by adding warnings and more information. Over a 10-year period in England, there were 25 deaths and 26 cases of serious harm linked to methotrexate.

Methotrexate belongs to the drug class known as DMARDs, or disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. DMARDs slow the progression of rheumatoid arthritis and other rheumatic diseases, and help prevent joint damage. Methotrexate was developed as a leukemia drug in the 1940s. The drug was considered experimental in the 1970s. Methotrexate was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat rheumatoid arthritis in 1988.

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