General internists often continue to treat gout the way they were taught to as medical students, and the result of that approach has been that patients continue to have gout attacks and joint damage. Physicians can do much better than that by using available medications to lower the patient’s serum urate level below 6 mg/dL, according to Dr. Brian Mandell, Professor and Chairman of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. This interview was conducted at the 5th Annual Perspectives in Rheumatic Diseases Seminar.