Quoted from http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Class+action+suit+eyed+over+Fosamax+side+effects/3124387/story.html
Class-action suit eyed over Fosamax side-effects
By Charlie Fidelman, Montreal Gazette June 7, 2010Quebec non-profit group Option-Consommateurs wants to launch a class action suit again Merck Frosst for failing to disclose side effecs connected with Fosamax, an osteoporosis drug.
MONTREAL - A non-profit Montreal-based consumer group wants to launch a class-action suit against pharmaceutical giant Merck Frosst for failing to disclose side effects connected with Fosamax, an osteoporosis drug.
Worried about fractures and bone damage associated with long-term use of the medication, the group is warning consumers, doctors and government health agencies of potential risks, said Jacinthe Lauzon of Option-Consommateurs.
Fosamax (alendronate) has been marketed largely to healthy women in Canada as a drug to prevent bone loss.
An estimated 3,000 Quebec women take the drug. Last year, RAMQ, the Quebec health insurance board saw 1.5 million prescriptions filled at a cost of $26 million, Lauzon said.
Since the group filed its class action demand in 2007 several disturbing international studies have come to light, Lauzon said.
Fosamax is in a class of medications called bisphosphonates. But studies suggest that the drug designed to strengthen bones is not effective in preventing bone degeneration and fractures, and in some cases may lead to weak, brittle bones that can break spontaneously.
The drug is also associated with rare side-effects, including osteonecrosis, or Fosamax dead-jaw, a painful condition that can cause serious health consequences. According to various studies, the rate of such side effects is about one in 1,000 users, Lauzon said.
