Merck & Co. faced with negligence lawsuit over osteoporosis drug Fosamax

By Trevor Schubert

Published on April 20, 2006

Merck, which is already facing nearly 10,000 lawsuits over its arthritis drug Vioxx, can chalk up one more after a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers, Fla., alleged Fosamax is a defective product that causes osteonecrosis, or rotting of the jaw bone.

The suit, which seeks class action status, alleges that Merck concealed and continues to bury Fosamax's potentially debilitating side-effects from patients and doctors.

In a recently released statement, Merck said that of the more than 17,000 patients who participated in the Fosamax clinical trial, they have not received any reports of osteonecrosis of the jaw. They went on to say there were later reports of patients who developed osteonecrosis while taking the drug, but that does not mean the drug was the cause.

Fosamax is Merck's second highest grossing drug with last year's revenue nearly flat at $3.2 billion.

Certain chemotherapy drugs, categorized as nitrogenous bisphosphonates, have been linked to the development of osteonecrosis. The suit claims that since Fosamax is in this same category of drugs, Merck should have been aware of the potential risks.

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