Free Republic

New questions have emerged about whether long-term use of bone-building drugs for osteoporosis may actually lead to weaker bones in a small number of people who use them. The concern rises mainly from a series of case reports showing a rare type of leg fracture that shears straight across the upper thighbone after little or no trauma. Fractures in this sturdy part of the bone typically result from car accidents, or in the elderly and frail. But the case reports show the unusual fracture pattern in people who have used bone-building drugs called bisphosphonates for five years or more. Some...

Like thousands of women in their 50s, Linda Secrest developed osteoporosis and her doctor prescribed Fosamax, a medication to reverse bone loss. That was in early 2000, before the Naples woman's life changed forever. Today Secrest is on a soft-food diet and may have to switch to liquids for a time, according to her Pensacola attorney Timothy O'Brien. Six or seven months after she started on Fosamax, Secrest underwent a root canal in September 2000. She had no inkling the medication can lead to infection and tissue loss after invasive dental procedures, including having cavities filled. Secrest fell victim to...