U.S. warns of severe pain with osteoporosis drugs

Ongoing FDA review and in many cases, stopping the drugs stops the pain...BD

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Patients treated with widely used osteoporosis drugs may develop severe and sometimes disabling pain in muscles, joints and bones, U.S. officials said on Monday in an alert highlighting the previously known risk. FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said the agency is reviewing hundreds of reports of pain in bisphosphonate users, noting that prescriptions for the drugs number in the millions. Potential side effects typically are under-reported, she added.

The risk of severe pain with the drugs has been known for years, but health officials said doctors may be overlooking the medicines as a cause.

The warning applies to Merck & Co Inc's Fosamax, Roche Holding AG and GlaxoSmithKline PLC's Boniva, plus all other members of the family known as bisphosphonates.The other bisphosphonates include Actonel, sold by Procter & Gamble and Sanofi-Aventis; Novartis AG's Zometa, Aredia and Reclast; P&G's Didronel; and Sanofi's Skelid. Reclast is sold outside the United States as Aclasta.