Very interesting - Fosamax lawsuit

Readers may know that I had an artificial hip put in a few years ago. I had taken large doses of Prednisone as a kid for a skin condition and this is now known to cause the blood vessels in the large bones to die off. High concentrations of the element Phosphorous can do this too -- people who made matches in the 1840's through 1910's would develop a condition called Phossy Jaw. Further (from the WikiPedia article):

A related condition, Bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw (BON), has been described as a side-effect of amino-bisphosphonates, a class of phosphorus-based drugs that inhibit bone resorption, and are used widely for treating osteoporosis, bone disease in cancer and some other conditions. BON is primarily associated with the use of intravenous bisphosphonates in the treatment of cancer. The percentage incidence of BON from this use is approximately 1000 times higher than the incidence of BON caused by the use of oral bisphosphonates.

Well, that chicken just came home to roost -- from Bloomburg/Business Week:

Merck Loses $8 Million Verdict in Trial Over Fosamax
Merck & Co. lost the second trial to reach a verdict over claims its osteoporosis drug Fosamax causes so-called jaw death. The jury set damages at $8 million.

A jury in New York ruled against Merck today in the case of Shirley Boles, 72, of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, awarding $3 million more than the $5 million her lawyers had asked for. Boles claimed she developed osteonecrosis of the jaw, or ONJ, from taking Fosamax. The first Fosamax case resulted in a Merck victory in May.

Boles �took on a giant and won,� said Timothy O�Brien, one of her lawyers.

U.S. District Judge John Keenan, who is overseeing federal Fosamax litigation, scheduled three so-called bellwether trials that may point the way to out-of-court settlements and show each side the other�s strategy. The third case is to be tried in November.

For Merck to bring a drug to market when it has such a well known history of causing serious problems is unconscionable. I certainly would not think of suing for the Prednisone as there was no knowledge of the problems it would cause 40 years later but the one-to-one coorelation with Fosamax and jaw death is right out there for people to see...