Like Vioxx, Merck's expensive
"super aspirin" that caused thousands of cardiovascular events before
being recalled, Merck's Fosamax, the first bisphosphonate bone drug, flew out
of the FDA with only a six-month review.
And like Vioxx, the true dangers of
the drug class (that includes Fosamax, Boniva and Reclast) only surfaced after
being "tested" on the guinea pig known as John Q Public.
Now, people are asking why the bone
drugs were ever approved.
Like Vioxx, there were early
indications of Fosamax's risks but they did not prevent wide marketing.
Merck received 1,213 adverse-effect reports soon after the drug's approval,
which included 32 hospitalized patients with adverse esophageal effects, 17
with "severe" effects, and two who were "temporarily
disabled," reported the New England Journal of Medicine. One woman who
took Fosamax and only remained upright for 30 minutes not 60 minutes as
directions say, had to be admitted to the Mayo Clinic with "severe
ulcerative esophagitis affecting the entire length of the esophagus" and
had to be fed intravenously.
And there were other safety signals.
Bisphosphonate patients were found to be at greater risk for osteonecrosis of
the jaw--death of the jawbone--after in-office dental procedures.
They were found to be at greater
risk for irregular heart beat, intractable pain and at double the risk of
esophageal cancer, according to medical reports.
Then, in 2010, after millions of
women were taking the widely advertised bisphosphonates, studies revealed they
sometimes caused the very fractures they were supposed to prevent!
See this and other similar reports
at opednews.com
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