The findings in this study are in contrast to the findings of 2 previous studies on mortality and anti-TNF therapy: one from the Base de Datos de Productos Biológicos de la Sociedad Española de Reumatología in Spain and the other from the South Swedish Arthritis Treatment Group, both of which showed a substantial reduction in mortality among patients receiving anti-TNF therapy compared with that among patients receiving standard DMARD therapy (13,14). Here, TNF is linked to arthritic joint disease.