Fosamax (Merck)

[peterfalk]

CT law
My mother, age 85, was in very good health until she started taking Fosamax to prevent osteoporosis. She started taking it in June but by August she was wheezing and short of breath. In Sept she was hospitalized for blot clods in her lungs, and now she is on a respirator. Documentation has recently shown that Fosamax is the direct cause.
Fosamax has been the subject of a class-action suit, I believe. Any CT lawyers specializing in this type of case?

[TheGeekess]

I am not seeing that listed as a side effect for Fosamax. Here is what I've found listed:
Post-Marketing Experience

The following adverse reactions have been reported in post-marketing use:

Body as a Whole: hypersensitivity reactions including urticaria and rarely angioedema. Transient symptoms of myalgia, malaise, asthenia and rarely, fever have been reported with Fosamax, typically in association with initiation of treatment. Rarely, symptomatic hypocalcemia has occurred, generally in association with predisposing conditions. Rarely, peripheral edema.

Gastrointestinal: esophagitis, esophageal erosions, esophageal ulcers, rarely esophageal stricture or perforation, and oropharyngeal ulceration. Gastric or duodenal ulcers, some severe and with complications have also been reported.

Localized osteonecrosis of the jaw, generally associated with tooth extraction and/or local infection, often with delayed healing, has been reported rarely.

Musculoskeletal: bone, joint, and/or muscle pain, occasionally severe, and rarely incapacitating; joint swelling.

Nervous system: dizziness and vertigo.

Skin: rash (occasionally with photosensitivity), pruritus, rarely severe skin reactions, including Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis.

Special Senses: rarely uveitis, scleritis or episcleritis.

[url=http://www.drugs.com/sfx/fosamax-side-effects.html]Fosamax Side Effects | Drugs.com[/url]

The only class-action I could find was concerned with the bolded adverse reaction above.

What kind of documentation leads you to believe that it was the Fosamax? What kind of health was your mother in before she started taking that particular pharmaceutical? What other presciption/OTC medications was she taking before/during/after she started on Fosamax?

[PhlawedPharmacy]

Originally Posted by peterfalk

CT law
My mother, age 85, was in very good health until she started taking Fosamax

I don't want to interfere with a grieving person's line of reasoning but I can tell you what you would expect to hear as an answer:

First, your mother was 85, roughly 7 years beyond normal life expectancy. 2nd, she was not prescribed a biphosphonate because her health was "very good". It would be done because her bone density was such that a woman of her declining health runs a high risk of morbidity and mortality, especially within 1 to 2 years following a fracture. It would have been irresponsible for the prescriber to not put her on it, and there are additionally no studies that show any relation of biphosphonates to blood clots. They actually draw calcium (an agent of atheroschlerosis) OUT of blood for deposit in bone.

Cardiovascular diseases are THE #1 most predictable cause of death in the elderly. If there was some more unusual cause, it might have been worthwhile to investigate other outside agents.

I do wish you both well.