A patient asked about a 'nontoxic' arthritis alternative — the answer reveals why promising research so rarely becomes treatment

Dear Doctor Roach: I was really interested in reading your recent columns on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other inflammatory arthritic conditions. I’ve taken most medications that you mentioned in your column. However, there’s a product called PS372424 that’s been in research since 2014, yet no medical rheumatology departments have even involved patients in taking it.

This is a nontoxic alternative to all the medications that are given to children and adults for inflammatory arthritic diseases.