Expert Testimony on Fosamax
What follows is a sampling of quotes from people knowledgeable about Fosamax and its various symptoms and side effects (especially osteonecrosis of the jaw), and the resultant lawsuits:
“Many people believe these drugs are ‘bone builders,’ but the evidence shows they are actually bone hardeners. They depress the bone resorption rate as well as the bone formation rate…. Bones can become brittle with long-term accumulation.”
—Dr. Susan M. Ott of the University of Washington in a
letter to Annals of Internal Medicine (2004)
“Bone mineral density testing is a poor predictor of future fractures but an excellent predictor of the start of drug use.”
—Dr. Barbara Mintzes of the University of British Columbia, in the
British Medical Journal (April 13, 2002)
“One drug company did not come out with an update to their circular until about three or four months ago. We were seeing [the problem] three years ago. It is a class action suit waiting to happen.”
—Dr. Gregory Lutcavage of the University of North Carolina
“Predisposing factors for the development of osteonecrosis of the jaw appear to be dental disease, dental surgery (tooth extraction), oral trauma, periodontitis and poor dental hygiene.”
—Dr. John P. Bilezikian, in the New England
Journal of Medicine (November 30, 2006)
“The pharmaceutical industry has every desire that a patient who starts on a bisphosphonate would take it for life. We [bone doctors] have always been a bit suspicious of that viewpoint.”
—Dr. Robert Gagel of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
in Houston
“Osteonecrosis of the jaw is a growing epidemic.”
—Dr. Robert Marx of the University of Miami, in the
Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (2003)
“When did Merck become aware of the problem? I don’t know…. Do we all think it is happening? Absolutely, but we need prospective studies. The association is very strong.”
—Dr. Salvatore Ruggiero, chief of oral and maxillofacial surgery at
Long Island Jewish Medical Center, whose clinic is following
155 patients with jaw necrosis