Bisphosphonate Drugs and Atypical Bone Fractures

Searcy Denney has filed another individual lawsuit against Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. and Teva Pharmaceuticals in state court in New Jersey through local counsel.

This latest case was filed on behalf of a St. Augustine woman who ingested bisphosphonate drugs for more than 10 years, including Fosamax as well as alendronate – the generic version of Fosamax.   This client suffered an atypical femur fracture in December of 2010, which required surgical placement of hardware at a North Florida hospital.

There are now several hundred cases pending in the coordinated mass tort proceedings in New Jersey state court involving osteoporosis drugs.  Judge Higbee, a veteran of mass tort litigation, of Atlantic City, New Jersey is overseeing the litigation.  It is anticipated that the number of new lawsuits filed will increase substantially in the coming weeks, as the two-year anniversary of the FDA’s safety alert regarding the link between these osteoporosis drugs and long-bone fractures will occur on March 11, 2012.