Fosamax and Injury Compensation

Fosamax and Injury Compensation

As women age, their bone density tends to decrease. This loss of density can lead to osteoporosis and a higher risk of fractures. To prevent bone density loss or to treat existing osteoporosis, physicians have prescribed the bisphosphonate Fosamax to millions of American women. Unfortunately, long-term use of Fosamax is being increasingly linked to devastating fractures and other injuries. 

Rather than healing or preventing women from developing osteoporosis, extended use of Fosamax has been linked to a weakening of patients’ bones. Specifically, Fosamax has been associated with a higher risk of fractures in the femur and elsewhere, intense musculoskeletal pain, esophageal complications and a painful condition referred to as osteonecrosis of the jaw or jawbone death. 

What Is Fosamax?

Fosamax works by limiting the ability of bones to reabsorb old bone cells as the tissue seeks to regenerate itself. Initially, this can benefit a patient whose original bone tissue is weak or may become weak. Unfortunately, over time patients fail to regenerate their bone tissue overall, and this damage can lead to brittle bones and associated complications. 

These painful, unforeseen side effects have inspired thousands of women who have been injured by long-term use of Fosamax to file product liability lawsuits against Merck, the drug’s manufacturer. 

Prescription drugs are substances that carry risks. Each medication comes with a list of warnings that allow both patients and physicians to make informed decisions about what drugs they will and will not choose to include in the patient’s care plan. What makes these Fosamax side effects distinct is that until 2010, patients were not warned about any of these risks. Even now, many of these conditions remain absent from the Fosamax warning label. 

Fosamax has been approved for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. Yet, long-term use of the drug is increasingly tied to a host of complications, including the brittle bones that characterize osteoporosis. 

When a pharmaceutical company does not adequately warn patients and physicians about the risks associated with their drugs, in many cases the manufacturer may be held accountable for any injuries that these drugs may cause. In the case of Fosamax, countless women have suffered devastating injuries due to long-term use of the drug. Attempting to hold Merck accountable for these injuries may not heal these women, but it will allow them to recover medical costs and other damages, as well as bring additional attention to this dangerous medication.