Bisphosphonate Use and Femur Fracture

FDA evaluating atypical femur fracture risk from long-term bisphosphonate use.
ABC World News (3/10, story 3, 1:00, Sawyer) reported, "The FDA sent out a nationwide announcement today" about "the potential side effects of osteoporosis drugs like Fosamax [alendronate]." ABC (Besser) added that the agency "said in their announcement...physicians need to watch for the possibility of possible risk of femur fractures. And this didn't just apply to Fosamax, this applied to all four drugs that are in this group Fosamax, Actonel [risedronate], Boniva [ibandronate], and Reclast [zoledronic acid]."
Meanwhile, NBC Nightly News (3/10, story 4, 2:00, Williams), reported that "two small studies presented at a meeting of orthopedic surgeons suggest that in a small portion of patients who use the drug for five years they can" increase "the rate of a rare type of hip fracture."
USA Today (3/11, Lloyd) reports that the "studies show the bones of some post-menopausal women who take bisphosphonates...to ward off osteoporosis can stop rejuvenating and become brittle after long-term use." Researchers found that "the drugs are effective initially in slowing bone loss," but "the quality of the bone diminished after long-tern bisphosphonate use." A separate study indicated that "bone densitometry (DXA) scans show a buckling potential in the femur area of the hip in patients being treated for osteoporosis with bisphosphonates."
According to the Wall Street Journal (3/11, Dooren), the FDA is now examining whether long-term use of the drugs increases the risk of atypical subtrochanteric femur fractures, but so far, the agency said the data it "has reviewed have not shown a clear connection."
Still, ABC (3/10, Romo, Salahi, Childs) points out on its website that the FDA "is working closely with outside experts, including members of the recently convened American Society of Bone and Mineral Research Subtrochanteric Femoral Fracture Task Force, to gather additional information that may provide more insight into this issue." Reuters (3/11, Clarke) and MedPage Today (3/10, Gever) also covered the story.