The Fosamax Examiner

June 25, 2010: A seven-member jury sitting in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York found that Merck's prescription drug Fosamax was "unreasonably dangerous" and "defective". The case, Shirley Boles v. Merck & Co., Inc., was tried by Levin Papantonio shareholder Tim O'Brien together with Gary Douglas of Douglas & London, and was a so-called bellwether trial in the Fosamax MDL involving osteonecrosis of the jaw injuries. After a three-week trial. the Court asked the jury to answer the following question: "Do you find that Fosamax was a defective product before October 1, 2003, that is, unreasonably dangerous due to defective design, and that its defective design was a legal cause of Mrs. Boles' injury?" The jury unanimously answered "YES". The jury was then asked to determine the amount of damages Mrs. Boles sustained as a result of her taking the drug Fosamax. The jury determined that her damages amounted to $8 million. In a post-verdict interview, Attorney O'Brien put his arm around the seventy-two year old retired sheriff's deputy and stated: "This is the world's bravest great-grandmother. She took on Goliath and won." View Verdict

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Fosamax MDL 1789

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Fosamax Resources

• Side Effect Watch: Femur Fractures in Fosamax Patients
  A study in the current issue of the Journal of Orthopedic Trauma links Merck's osteoporosis drug Fosamax to a rare type of fracture in the femur.
• Suit Alleges Merck Negligently Promoted Osteoporosis Drug Fosamax
  Merck & Co., which is already facing a raft of cases over its pain reliever Vioxx, may need to hire additional attorneys to fight a recently filed lawsuit alleging the company was negligent in promoting its osteoporosis drug Fosamax.
• Oral Surgeon Warns about "bis-phossy jaw"
  Bisphosphonates, a class of drugs taken by millions of patients for osteoporosis and bone-related complications of metastatic cancer may actually contribute to the onset of osteochemonecrosis, or "bis-phossy jaw," a painful, potentially disfiguring jaw condition, according to an article published in the May issue of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
• Wall Street Journal says industry moving slowly on dead jaw problems
  After eight operations on patients whose jawbones turned out to be dead, oral surgeon Salvatore Ruggiero began doing some research in February 2001. He scoured the patients' medical records and discovered they had something in common: They were cancer patients taking a drug called Aredia to combat bone loss...
• USA Today - Dead Jawbones linked to drug
  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.
• Biphosphonates and Jaw Necrosis
  Cancer patients given drugs called bisphosphonates to control hypercalcemia – too much calcium in the blood – or the growth of bone metastases can develop bone death in the jaw the FDA warns.
• Novartis Letter warns about its drugs causing osteonecrosis
  Novartis is fully committed to assuring timely dissemination of safety information about their products to the healthcare community. We are writing to inform you of changes made to the Precautions and Post-Marketing Experience sections of the Aredia®.
• Levin Papantonio Attorney Tim O'Brien interviewed by LA Times
  The July 5, 2006 edition of the L.A. Times includes an article about the damaging effects of the drug Fosamax and reprints its interview with Levin Papantonio attorney Tim O'Brien, who is leading the Fosamax litigation for the firm against Merck.
• Levin Firm Leading Fosamax Litigation
  Levin Papantonio attorney Tim O'Brien broke the news to the Wall Street Journal regarding the potential for the medication Fosamax® to be involved with cases of jaw bone rot. Known as osteonecrosis of the jaw, the condition can lead to lifelong disability.
• FDA Safety Review: Bisphosphonates
• Drug linked to death of jawbone
  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.
• Action On 'Jaw Rotting' Drug Erodes Merck's Share Price
  SHARES in Merck, the American drugs giant, slipped 1.2 per cent in early trading on Wall Street yesterday amid reports that class action lawyers were targeting a second blockbuster drug at the company - Fosamax.
• Merck Sued Over Fosamax Health Risks
  "Merck & Co., which faces more than 9,000 lawsuits over its Vioxx painkiller, misrepresented the safety of its osteoporosis drug Fosamax by withholding warnings that it could kill jawbone tissue, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. Linda Secrest, 59, sued Merck, accusing it of failing to warn doctors and patients that Fosamax could hamper blood flow to the jaw. Secrest, who began taking the drug in 2000, says she was diagnosed with jawbone tissue death in 2005. The condition is irreversible."
• Merck's Fosamax next legal battleground?
  In the wake of the recent $15 million Vioxx verdict, plaintiffs' attorneys are already setting their sights on Merck's Fosamax. That according to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday, which said that Merck's top-selling osteoporosis drug Fosamax is the second drug made by the embattled company to come into the crosshairs of the medical tort bar. A lawsuit was filed this week in Fort Myers, Fla., the report said, with the plaintiffs seeking class-action status."