Bone Drug Linked To Fractures

This has to be one of the most unfortunate side effects of a pharmaceutical ... A class of drug intended to reduce bone fractures increases risk for fractures. The drugs are still on the market.

Name brands include:

• Merck’s Fosamax
  
• Roche’s Boniva
  
• Warner Chilcott’s Actonel

Last year, Merck paid one woman $8 million in damages, "$3 million more than the $5 million her lawyers had asked for," because a jury "found that Fosamax is defectively designed and unreasonably dangerous."¹

The FDA is thinking about requiring a label limiting the drugs' use to 5 years in patients. Recall though that these drugs (at least Fosamax/alendronate) have a half-life in the body of up to 12 years. And there's the suspected link to esophogeal cancer.

"[The FDA] has evaluated the safety of the drugs, known as bisphosphonates, for almost four years and cited possible links to unusual thigh fractures and jawbone deterioration in 2010."²

Why are they still being sold?

"Bisphosphonates generated $4.2 billion in U.S. sales last year and $7.6 billion worldwide."

Here's some background on the bone-damaging mechanism from a prior post:
Osteoporosis Drugs Contribute To The Fractures They Were Intended To Prevent
________¹ Merck Loses $8 Million Verdict In Trial Over Fosamax
² Warner, Merck Bone Drugs Need Label Changes on Use Duration, Panel Says