Fosamax May Cause Femur Fractures Says Medical Research

A recent report published in the New England Journal of Medicine on May 5, 2011, indicates that osteoporosis treatments like the drug Fosamax may be linked with an increased risk of femur fractures (thighbone breaks).    Fosamax injury attorneys are taking calls from people who think they or a loved one may have suffered from a serious bone break like a femur fracture.  Notably, these cases usually involve little or no pre-injury trauma to the bone—that is, the people who suffered from the femur fracture were not struck violently, but were just doing normal activities like climbing stairs.

These types of drugs are called “bisphosphonates” and include brand names like Fosamax, Actonel, Reclast, Boniva, and Zometa.  Fosamax and other bisphosphonates work by interrupting the normal process of bone formation and degradation. Your body builds bone with one type of cell (osteoblasts), and takes bone away with another type of cell (osteoclasts).  Severe bone loss—when the bone degradation outpaces the creation—is referred to as “osteoporosis.”  Drugs like Fosamax were supposed to fight this process and strengthen bones.

Femur fracture lawsuit attorneys like the Spangenberg Law Firm are encouraging people who have suffered a severe bone breaks like a femur fracture after taking bisphosphonates like Fosamax for three or more years (or less time for IV/injected drugs) to contact an attorney to review the potential case.

The Mayo Clinic reports that there is another issue—osteonecrosis—for oral bisphosphonates like Fosamax:

Since 2003, there have been reports of a possible link between bisphosphonates and a rare disorder called osteonecrosis, or “death of bone,” involving the jaw — a condition marked by pain, swelling, infection and exposed bone. The majority of cases of osteonecrosis of the jaw involved people with cancer who were receiving chemotherapy and had been given intravenous bisphosphonates to treat cancer that had spread (metastasized) to the bone.

You may want to consult your doctor and a lawyer if you’ve suffered from similar symptoms.