Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) is considered an older disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD). Plaquenil is actually in a class of medications called anti-malarials but it is also used to treat rheumatic and autoimmune conditions which are unrelated to malaria. It's important to know about safety warnings associated with plaquenil so undesirable side effects can be minimized.
Based on an analysis of 7,945,910 prescriptions written by rheumatologists from January to March 2008, 5.7% were written for Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) -- making it the fourth most commonly prescribed arthritis drug.
