Merck will again "vigorously defend itself" against allegations that its Fosamax bisphosphonate drug caused dental and jaw-related problems in a jury trial that began January 18 in New Jersey.
In Rosenberg v. Merck, the plaintiff alleges she used Fosamax from 1999 to 2006 and that she suffered various jaw problems and complications following a tooth extraction in December 2005. The company believes the evidence will show that Fosamax did not cause these problems and that it provided appropriate and timely information about Fosamax to the medical, scientific, and regulatory communities.
"Unfortunately, the plaintiff had medical problems that cause people to develop jaw problems, regardless of whether they were taking Fosamax," said Christy Jones of Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens & Cannada, outside counsel for Merck, in a press release. "She had an extensive history of periodontal and endodontic treatments, and she took a number of powerful steroid medications that are known to suppress the body's immune system and inhibit the body's ability to heal. The evidence will show that the plaintiff would have experienced dental and jaw-related problems whether she took Fosamax or not."
Judge Carol Higbee of the Superior Court for Atlantic County will preside over the trial.
Currently, some 1,000 similar cases are pending against Merck, all involving allegations that the drug maker failed to adequately warn about the risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw associated with Fosamax.
This is the fourth such case against Merck to be tried in court so far. The first case, Maley v. Merck, resulted in a defense verdict for Merck in May 2010. The second, Boles v. Merck, initially resulted in a mistrial in September 2009; a retrial in June 2010 resulted in a plaintiff verdict and a jury award of $8 million, which has since been reduced to $1.5 million. In November 2010, Merck prevailed in the third case, Graves v. Merck.
Fosamax was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 1995 and is still on the market today.
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