NPR Report Highlights How Merck Created Fosamax Demand
Years before Fosamax lawsuits gained headlines, Merck & Co. was having problems even establishing a market for the drug. A feature by National Public Radio (NPR) details how the blockbuster osteoporosis medication Fosamax was not immediately embraced by patients when Merck began selling it in 1995. As a result, Merck undertook a campaign aimed at getting women diagnosed with osteoporosis and subsequently prescribed Fosamax.
Merck Hired Pharmaceutical Consultant to Provide “Out of the Box Thinking”
Fosamax (alendronate sodium) was the first in a class of osteoporosis drugs known as bisphosphonates to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As a nonhormonal osteoporosis treatment, it deviated sharply from previous treatments which included not only hormones, but also vitamin D and calcium.
With millions of women in the United States affected by osteoporosis, Fosamax had the potential to become enormously profitable for Merck. In the early going, however, the drugmaker encountered difficulty selling Fosamax, so it recruited a man named Jeremy Allen to help turn things around.
Allen ran IMS Health, a pharmaceutical research company, before starting a consulting business. In 1995 he was approached by then-Merck America president David Anstice and asked to provide, in the words of Allen, “some out of the box thinking” to address sluggish Fosamax sales.
Determining that the problem was a lack of access to bone scanning equipment that could diagnose osteoporosis, Allen went about changing the bone measurement industry. To do so, he helped establish a nonprofit called the Bone Measurement Institute and tried to convince doctors to embrace smaller, less-expensive bone scan machines.
The efforts of Allen and Merck appear to have paid off. According to NPR, Medicare bone screening exams rose from 77,000 a year in 1994 to more than 1.5 million per annum in 1999 and were accompanied by a 500 percent increase in the sale of bone scan machines Allen had promoted. From 1999 to 2009, Fosamax earned Merck nearly $24 billion in sales.
Fosamax Lawsuits Mar Drug’s Success
According to Jeremy Allen, “Fosamax became a successful drug … and there are a lot less women dying of hip fractures or stooped over than there were a generation ago.”
Fosamax certainly was a commercial triumph for Merck, and the medication has helped many women manage their osteoporosis. But the drug is not without problems.
Over the last several years more than 1,000 people have filed Fosamax lawsuits against Merck alleging that the medication causes bone injuries that include osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) and spontaneous, low-impact femur fractures. Two mass torts are ongoing in New York and New Jersey federal court to deal with the large number of legal complaints. They include allegations that Fosamax is defectively designed and that Merck failed to adequately warn about the drug’s side effects.
RLG Can Help With a Fosamax Femur Fracture Lawsuit
If you have reason to believe that Fosamax caused your femur fracture, the Rottenstein Law Group wants to hear about it. Through a Fosamax lawsuit, it may be possible to obtain compensation for your losses, but without expert legal guidance you risk recovering nothing. To schedule a free consultation with an experienced RLG lawyer, complete this form. A member of our firm will be in touch shortly.
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