Fosamax Linked To Necrosis Of Jaw Of Florida Woman

Another prescription drug is being linked to serious complications.

Fosamax, Merck’s other drug problem

With thousands of Vioxx cases already in the courts, the drugmaker faces 15 suits over an osteoporosis drug blamed for rotting the jaw bone.

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 suit from a Naples, Fla., 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 suit April 10 in Fort Myers, Fla. She accuses Merck of withholding information about the drug’s health risks.

Merck says 15 Fosamax suits have been filed against the company, versus the thousands of Vioxx cases. But this is expected to change.