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Editor: Tim O'Brien
Profession: Attorney at Law

As we have mentioned previously, Fosamax has a very long half-life - - 10 to 12 years - - in the human bone. This has always presented the question: if Fosamax sticks around for so long, why is it is necessary to continue using it?

A new article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that, for many women wishing to prevent fractures, there is no reason to keep using it: "These results suggest that for many women, discontinuation of aledronate for up to 5 years does not appear to significantly increase fracture risk." JAMA, Effects of Continuing or Stopping Alendronate After 5 Years of Treatment: The Fracture Intervention Long-term Extension (FLEX): a Randomized Trial", JAMA, 2006; 296:2927-2938, at 2927.

The other shoe is beginning to drop on Merck as evidence mounts that Merck has overstated the efficacy of Fosamax and downplayed the risks.