Hope for Merck & Co reprieve in Fosamax case

The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a lower court should consider dismissing the claims of more than 500 patients who blame pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) for not warning them about the risks of femoral fractures related to the company’s drug Fosamax (alendronate).

When the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first approved Fosamax for treating and preventing osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, the label did not warn of the then-speculative risk of atypical femoral fractures associated with the drug, the court heard.

But stronger evidence connecting Fosamax to atypical femoral fractures developed after 1995. And the FDA ultimately ordered Merck to add a warning about this to the label in 2011.