Dangers Of Oral Osteoporosis Drugs (Bisphosphonates)
On July 21, 2011, the FDA announced that it was continuing to review data from published studies to evaluate whether the use of oral bisphosphonate drugs used for the treatment of osteoporosis (e.g., Fosamax, Boniva, Actonel) is associated with an increase in the risk of developing esophageal cancer. The evidence is not conclusive, but one study published in the British Medical Journal found that, for patients who had received at least 10 prescriptions for oral bisphosphonates or who had the drugs prescribed for a five year period, the risk of esophageal cancer doubled. Significantly, this risk did not vary materially when adjusted within subgroups defined by age, sex, smoking status, alcohol consumption or body mass index.
Subsequently, on July 27, 2011, the National Institutes of Health published a solicitation to procure the services of Kaiser Permanente "to provide extraction of relevant data from computerized databases and prepare analytic files suitable for epidemiologic research to assess whether the use of oral bisphosphonates is associated with subsequent risk of esophageal cancer."
If you, or someone you know, has contracted esophageal cancer after use of bisphosphonates, please contact us to discuss your legal rights.