We have compiled the latest news on Fosamax side effects and the related litigation. All of the news articles on this page require Adobe Acrobat to view.

If you or a loved one has been injured by Fosamax and you would like more information on litigation against the manufacturer, please contact us.

Fosamax Lawsuit Brings Risks to Light
The Salt Lake Tribune | June 20, 2006

Pamela Hines went from an active lifestyle of running five miles a day and working full-time to being unable to eat most foods and feeling constant pain.

The 52-year-old Sandy woman was diagnosed last year with osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ), a disfiguring condition that leads to the breakdown of the jawbone and loss of teeth. After having a tooth extracted, she became deeply concerned when her mouth failed to heal. After visiting several doctors, one told her she might have ONJ—and that is could be linked to her taking the popular osteoporosis drug Fosamax, for stronger bones.

Bone-Building Drugs Linked to Bone-Rotting Side Effect
The Star-Ledger | June 13, 2006

Michael Erlichman walked into his dental office last week and encountered a patient with an unusual but growing problem.

An elderly woman was complaining about soreness caused by her dentures, but there was nothing Erlichman could do to relieve her pain. That's because she suffers from a rare jawbone disease that is increasingly being linked to a group of drugs for osteoporosis and cancer. And he noted she'd been taking one of those drugs for several years.

Fosamax Is Newly Linked to Jaw Disease
New York Times | June 2, 2006

In the last 10 years, millions of patients have taken a class of drugs that can prevent agonizing broken and deteriorating bones. The drugs once seemed perfectly safe and have tranformed life for patients with cancer or osteoporosis.

But recently there have been reports of a serious side effect: death of areas of bone in the jaw.

Louisville Woman Suing Makers of Fosamax
NBC Wave 3 | May 18, 2006

A Louisville woman is now suing the drug manufacturer of Fosamax, Merck, after doctors blame the drug for basically rotting her jawbone, with no warning. Thousands of other people are making the same claims.

Dozens Suing Manufacturer of Osteoporosis Drug Fosamax
KENS 5 Eyewitness News | May 18, 2006

Fosamax was touted as a wonder drug for osteoporosis. More than 30 million prescriptions were written last year. But now some say the drug has ruined their lives.

Fosamax, Merck's Other Drug Problem
CNN | May 9, 2006

Merck, already in a long fight against thousands of Vioxx lawsuits, will soon face a two-front war, as plaintiffs begin to file suit over a different drug: Fosamax.

Merck, the No. 2 U.S. drugmaker, will soon face a federal court lawsuit from a Naples, Florida woman who blames the osteoporosis treatment for the necrosis that rotted her mouth and exposed bone in her jaw. Linda Secrest, 60, who took Fosamax for six years, filed the lawsuit April 10 in Fort Myers, Florida. She accuses Merck of withholding information about the drug's health risks.

Fosamax Linked to Death of Jawbone
USA Today | March 13, 2005

Salvatore Ruggiero was puzzled.

Over a three-year period, the jaws of dozens of patients who had undergone oral surgery at his hospital had failed to heal properly. Part of the jawbone had died and become exposed.

"We never saw this before in the jaw" except in patients who had received radiation therapy to that part of the face, says Ruggiero, chief of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. "It just never existed."