Osteoporosis Drugs: Good Medicine or Big Pharma Scam?

[HuckleB]

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=3278#more-3278

"A recent story on NPR accused the drug manufacturer Merck of inventing a disease, osteopenia, in order to sell its drug Fosamax. It showed how the definition of what constitutes a disease evolves, and the role that drug companies can play in that evolution.

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When Merck started marketing Fosamax, not many women were being screened for osteoporosis because the standard DEXA (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) test required expensive equipment and was not readily available. They thought if they could increase the rate of diagnosis they could sell more pills. Merck promoted the development of small, less expensive scanners that could be used on a heel or wrist in a doctor’s office. Merck even set up a nonprofit organization called the Bone Measurement Institute, which worked to spread the use of these machines and bring down the price of bone exams. Unfortunately, the results of those scans did not correlate well to the results of the gold standard DEXA scan.

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The results of the scans promoted by Merck were reported either as normal bone density, osteopenia, or osteoporosis. Osteopenia carries only a small increased risk of fractures, but the assumption was that left untreated it would progress to osteoporosis. It is really more of a risk factor for osteoporosis than a disease in its own right. Some women diagnosed with osteopenia may not even have bone loss; they may just be at the low end of normal on a wide spectrum. But osteopenia sounds abnormal, and it sounds like a diagnosis, and it sounds to a lot of people like it needs treating. A new disease was born with a ready-made treatment.

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Big Pharma advertises but it is doctors who write the prescriptions: when drugs are over-prescribed, only the prescribers are to blame. What should doctors do? In the first place, they should be recommending preventive lifestyle changes to all their patients. They should stick to the best science-based practices and evaluate the evidence for themselves rather than being influenced by Sally Field or by Big Pharma propaganda. They should prescribe drug treatments only when fracture risk is significant, when a fracture has already occurred, or when they think bone density is significantly low (still a judgment call). They should explain the gray areas to their patients and involve them in the decision to treat. They should think in terms of number needed to treat and number needed to harm. And they should be aware of the games Big Pharma plays."

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Why aren't the "Big Pharma Shills" defending Big Pharma to the bitter end?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.