A Rise In Fosamax Lawsuits Predicted

The public filings of Merck, which were recently reviewed

, has revealed that Merck has spent more than $150 million litigating approximately 1,500 cases involving Fosamax patients who developed bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw and other bone diseases after taking Fosamax. Amount spent raises concerns since it can be considered large compared to the amount of cases in litigation against Merck. In the 1,500 documented cases against Merck, only 50 cases had active discovery done on them. More research done by University of Texas doctors acknowledges Fosamax femur risk.

Currently, there have been approximately 100 people who have filed femur fracture lawsuits against Merck, but this number is expected to increase rapidly in the coming months. These femur fracture lawsuits are closely related to claims that Fosamax can cause osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ), which are in the late stages of litigation.

There has already been one case which was able to reach a settlement from Merck of $8 million because of the ONJ suffered by the plaintiff. The vast majority of the cases have yet to be decided. Because it can cause many different side effects, Fosamax lawsuits that stem from different types of injuries are not necessarily comparable in terms of recovery amounts.

In lieu of the rising amount of lawsuits filed against Merck, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated that its research on Fosamax and its connection to bone fractures is still on going. Since the availability of research on the subject is widely available, the FDA has recently chosen to include a new label with packages of Fosamax that describes the risk of atypical femur fractures.

A good example of the availability of the research done on the topic is a recent online edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) which included publication of a major case control study relating to bisphosphonates (particularly Fosamax) and subtrochanteric femur fractures It was concluded by the researchers of this particular study that those patients who have been on a long time bisphosphonate therapy for osteoporosis were at a 274% higher chance of suffering from low-impact femur fractures than similarly matched patients.

Since there has been at least one case which was able to receive money from Merck, many experts believe that the number of Fosamax Lawsuits are bound to increase. Also with the added warnings on the packaging of Fosamax and the FDA research on the possible link between Fosamax and bone fractures, it is quite possible that Merck may lose many of these lawsuits.

by: Ronald Redman

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