News tagged with 'Osteoporosis'

While a new study reassures patients who take bone-building drugs to treat osteoporosis, a recent study indicates that the quality of bone among users may be brittle. The latest study is sponsored by drug makers, Merck and Novartis.

The FDA responds to Fosamax studies warning of brittle bones with prolonged use.

Fosamax and similar drugs are supposed to make bones stronger. But new research shows staying on these drugs for five or more years can increase the risk of hip fractures.

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.

Fosamax, the osteoporosis drug, is on trial in a New York Courtroom as is its maker, Merck, in a case that will be watched by millions of menopausal women and their doctors.

The drug is called denosumab, and it is used to stop the production of cells known as osteoclasts, that breakdown bone causing osteoporosis. Amgen is seeking approval for the new drug but the FDA is concerned the drug also supresses the immune system opening up someone to infections and cancer.

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.

A published study in the New England Journal of Medicine to weed out ineffective treatments has doctors scratching their heads. They thought vertebroplasty, the use of an acrylic cement, worked to relieve pain in those with oseoporotic vertebral fractures. Turns out those who didn't get the cement also got pain relief.

Vitamin D levels appear to be declining in the general population, according to this published study, even though it is increasingly linked to immune health, bone strength and cardiovascular improvement.

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.

Quest Laboratories will have to retest an unknown number of people for vitamin D after a lab error. It has since been corrected and letters are going out to those who used the diagnostic testing service.

Previous studies had indicated that the risk of developing a jaw condition, ONJ, or osteonecrosis of the jaw that loosens teeth and softens bone, was negligible. A new study suggests the jaw condition might be more common than previously thought. 

A British analysis finds Avandia and Actos, widely prescribed for type 32 diabetes, doubles the risk of fractures in women (not men). The drugs have already been in the news because of concerns about the risk for heart failure. Women should consider other options, says researchers. 

A follow-up look at reports of atrial fibrillation among those taking medication for osteoporosis, showed no signifigant association.  The FDA may launch another look as it follows adverse reports.

Bayer is combining aspirin with plants and minerals and making false and misleading claims which it must stop, says the FDA. The herbal industry says it's looking for guidelines, not outright censorship.