Drugs & Medical Devices
Fosamax
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Fosamax linked to femur fracture says ABC News
The connection between Fosamax and femur fracture was strengthened yet again by ABC news in their March, 2010, report, “Fosamax: Is Long Term Use of Bone Strengthening Drug Linked to Fractures?” ABC interviews Sandy Potter, an active 59-year-old woman from Queens, who said that her thigh bone fractured while playing jump-rope with some neighborhood kids. She did not fall or come down on the leg wrong, but she had been taking the drug Fosamax for eight years.
"I went up in the air and I came straight down to the ground…The pain was excruciating," said Potter.
Sandy was prescribed the drug because she was diagnosed with osteoporosis at the age of 48. She took Fosamax being that it was one of the leading medications to treat osteoporosis. After eight years of consisted usage of Fosamax her femur, the longest and largest bone in the human body, simply snapped in two.
Sandy is not the first person who has had a spontaneous femur fracture after long-term use of Fosamax. Doctors are seeing more and more cases just like hers and they are paying special attention to them.
Dr. Kenneth Egol, professor of orthopedic surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center, said that "we are seeing people just walking, walking down the steps, patients who are doing low-energy exercise [who have had femur fractures after taking Fosamax]…very unusual, the femur is one of the strongest bones in the body…Over the last 18 months we are seeing this more frequently.”
Egol went on to comment that some of the x-rays taken from patients like Sandy look as if they have been in car accidents – meaning that a femur fracture of these varieties do not simply happen on their own.
Sue Hellen, a 60-year-old resident of Castle Rock, Colorado, had two spontaneous femur fractures – one in each leg. She had been taking Fosamax for over ten years.
Hellen sympathizes with the people that are unaware of this bizarre side-effect of Fosamax. "I'm sure there are a lot of women who have brittle bones right now that maybe are ready to break, and they're not aware of it…my heart aches for them."
ABC News says that the evidence linking Fosamax to femur fracture is mounting, however Merck & Co. (the manufacturer of Fosamax) still states that there is not sufficient enough evident to warrant a connection.
Reports like these continue to arise, and if you are one of those seriously injured by Fosamax, contact Weitz & Luxenberg for help. Our team of skilled attorneys has a wealth of experience in defective medicine and devices cases. We can get you the compensation you deserve for the losses caused by your injury. Contact Weitz & Luxenberg today for your free, no obligation, legal consultation. We want to hear your case.
see also:
Femur Fracture News
A news report on fosamax causing femur fractureFosamax and femur fractures in the news: what you need to know.
JAMA study confirms Fosamax fracture risk
JAMA publishes study confirming increased risk of femur fractures for older women taking FosamaxJAMA publishes study citing increased femur fracture risk for women taking Fosamax
Fosamax News
Ongoing news coverage of the drug Fosamax and the life-threatening side-effects it carriesWeitz & Luxenberg's ongoing coverage of Fosamax news stories
