Fosamax femur lawyers who allege that the osteoporosis drug causes abnormal breaks of the thigh bone received further support for their claims with the publication of a new study last month.

In February, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published the results of a study entitled Bisphosphonate Use and the Risk of Subtrochanteric or Femoral Shaft Fractures in Older Women. The purpose of the study was to determine whether long term use of bisphosphonatesdrugs that are designed to treat osteoporosis and include Fosamax, Boniva, and Reclastcorrelate with an increased risk of femur fractures. The study authors concluded that for women aged 68 or older who have been taking a bisphosphonate for more than five years, the risk of suffering a femoral shaft fracture is nearly 3 times greater than it is for women who have taken the drug for less than 100 days.

The JAMA publication provides further evidence that drugs like Fosamax increase the chances of a user suffering an atypical femur fracture (those that occur with little or no impact). One study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma in the spring of 2008 found that 36 percent of participants who suffered femur fractures after falls from a standing height or less had been taking Fosamax for an average of four years or more. It also concluded that the specific type of stress fracture was ninety-eight percent specific to Fosamax. In September 2010 the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published the results of a study that reviewed 310 patients with atypical femur fractures and found that 291 of them (94 percent) had been taking Fosamax or other bisphosphonates.

The results of these studies, along with a drug safety communication issued by the FDA in March 2010, raised public awareness of Fosamaxs dangers and have prompted more than 100 people to take legal action against Merck & Co., the company that makes Fosamax. The lawsuits allege that Merck failed to adequately research the osteoporosis drug or provide proper warning of its side effects. With the number of Fosamax lawsuits against Merck only expected to increase, the company last month filed a petition to have all such cases consolidated through a process known as multidistrict litigation (MDL). A different Fosamax MDL, for lawsuits that allege the drug caused a disfiguring jaw bone disease, was approved in 2006, and one case from the centralized litigation has already been resolved.

Lawsuits involving Fosamax femur injuries, however, are far from being resolved. The Rottenstein Law Group is in the process of reviewing and filing claims against Merck and invites you to submit the details of your case for a complimentary evaluation. For the past 25 years, the lawyers of RLG have been committed to helping consumers injured through no fault of their own recover compensation from blameworthy corporations.