News tagged with 'Osteonecrosis'

The first trial accusing Merck of withholding information on the dangers of osteoporosis drug, Fosamax, has ended in a mistrial after Juror No. 5 says she was intimidated and threatened by the other seven jurors for siding with the plaintiff.

Merck & Co. will face the first of several hundred lawsuits today brought by patients who claim they suffered jaw damage from the company’s widely used drug, Fosamax for treatment of osteoporosis.

Fosamax, a popular osteoporosis drug, has been linked with rare, but serious, side effects, including heart irregularity, osteonecrosis of the jaw and most recently Esophageal Cancer reports the FDA in a letter published in the January issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Bisphosphonates, are a class of drug used to treat osteoporosis that slows or stops the reabsorption of bone, which are being linked to a condition in which jawbone tissue dies.