A good read: One woman's irreverent thoughts about the malarkey fed to the aging public of 8 million women and 2 million men who are diagnosed yearly with osteoporosis. At 48, her bone density is a 3.4 which means that she is beyond osteopenia and doomed as well on her way of having osteoporosis. On a scale with 0 to minus 1.5 being normal, anything between minus 1.5 and minus 2.5 is considered osteopenic (or borderline soft) and anything beyond that being osteoporosis, her spine measures a bone density of minus 3.4. In the summer of 1995, the FDA approved a class of drugs known as bisphosphonates, the most familiar of which is sold under the brand name Fosamax. Fosamax was hailed as a miracle drug that would work against the degeneration of bone density mass.
Since July 2005, roughly 1,000 cases of jaw necrosis (jawbone rots and dies) have been reported in patients taking Fosamax, whether through infusions or in pill form. While the majority of cases involve cancer patients, who take high-dose infusions, there is some question about the long-term effects on patients who may be taking Fosamax-like drugs for decades.
There are also hushed concerns that while Fosamax increases bone density, the new bone is too brittle. (Rep-Am)
In April 2006, a class-action lawsuit was filed in Florida against Merck, alleging that the Merck not only knew of the jaw necrosis risk but refused to study it further. The Fosamax lawsuit also charges that Merck ignored FDA requests back in 2004 to warn consumers.
