Quoted from http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE58847320090909
Merck loses effort to dismiss 24 Fosamax cases
Wed Sep 9, 2009 12:17pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Manhattan federal judge has rejected Merck & Co's effort to dismiss 24 cases alleging that its Fosamax drug treatment for osteoporosis causes jaw damage.
In an opinion released Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Keenan ruled that the plaintiffs could introduce testimony by two doctors to show that the drug can cause jaw damage after less than three years of continuous use.
Keenan said the evidence is sufficiently reliable to allow a rational jury to establish such a connection. He said individual plaintiffs will then be allowed to present expert testimony that Fosamax caused them to suffer such damage, and that such testimony could by itself "make causation a genuine issue of fact for trial."
Merck was not immediately available for comment.
