According to the New England Journal of Medicine, there may be a link between bisphosphonates and severe bone breaks. Bisphosphonates are osteoporosis drugs and Fosamax is one of them. If you suffered a femur fracture or another type of bone injury and you are or have been a Fosamax user, our Anaheim products liability lawyers want to talk to you.
The researchers say that because bisphosphonates can reduce bone remodeling, this could cause the skeleton to "freeze." If this happens, microcracks may accumulate and develop into stress fractures, including severe bone breaks to the thighbone, which is also known as the femur.
Signs you may be suffering from a femoral facture:
• Severe pain
• Deformity
• Swelling
• Not being able to move the leg
Fractures to the thighbone can be a very serious injury and normally require a lot of force before occurring. However, bisphosphonates have been linked to atypical femur fractures, which don't require a lot of force to happen.
Fosamax-linked femur fractures can occur when someone is sitting, standing, or walking. The NEJM says that within the first two years of taking bisphosphonate, the risk of an atypical fracture went up by 10 times in women users age 55 and over who were users. After that risk of an atypical fracture became 50 times greater than normal. Most atypical fractures linked to bisphosphonate use occurred within a year after the patient's last prescription. That said, for each year since the last time the patient took the drug, the risk factor went down 70%.
Fosamax is made by Merck & Company. Other bisphosonate-class osteoporosis drugs include Boniva, Reclast, Zometa, Skelid, Didronel, and Actonel.
The New England Journal of Medicine
Fosamax, National Institute of Health
Femur Fracture, Medscape
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Contact our Orange County, California Fosamax injury lawyers today.
