Clinton woman suing Merck over problem with Fosamax

Clinton woman suing Merck over problem with Fosamax

April 12, 2006

By JOHN HANEY
6 News Anchor/Reporter

CLINTON (WATE) -- A Clinton woman is suing the drug maker Merck, claiming a drug it makes resulted in a side-effect she never imagined.

As many people know, Merck is already facing a flood of lawsuits over its drug Vioxx. But another problem with a different drug seems to be emerging.

The osteoporosis drug Fosamax is under fire, with reports linking its long term use to a condition causing patients' jawbones to rot and die. That disease is called osteonecrosis (ONJ) and it caused Gwendolyn Wolfe to develop ONJ.

"A substantial portion of her jawbone had to be removed and Dr. Carlson did that in surgery," says Wolfe's attorney, John Threadgill. "She's still having significant pain and will for the rest of her life."

"We also say that their initial testing was flawed, that they didn't have the right personnel involved in the medical testing, didn't do the right test to determine if this risk was apparent, and it's something that they should have known," Threadgill says.

Threadgill has filed a lawsuit seeking class action certification claiming Fosamax has injured countless patients around America and. The suit also claims Merck knew about the problems but failed to report them.

"Anything Merck can do now to notify the public, that's part of what we also intend to do is to get the word out," Threadgill says.

Threadgill expects a court decision on his request for class action certification by early next year.

In the meantime, expect several more individual cases to be filed against Merck and possibly even more class action requests.