Review And Side Effects Of Duavee: The New FDA Approved Osteoporosis Drug

Vivian Goldschmidt, MA Drugs

Evidence-Based
5 min Read

A few days ago, on October 3rd, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced the FDA’s approval of its brand new osteoporosis drug Duavee. It’s designed to decrease hot flashes in menopausal women, and treat osteoporosis in post-menopausal women who have not had a hysterectomy. It will be available for prescription in the US in 2014.

Is Duavee any different from the already existing dangerous (and pathetically failing) osteoporosis drugs?

Let’s explore…

How Duavee Works

As soon as I saw what “conditions” Duavee is supposed to treat, it raised a red flag. Any drug that is touted as treating menopausal symptoms and osteoporosis must have something to do with hormone supplementation. And as Savers know, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is never recommended in the Osteoporosis Reversal Program.

Duavee contains conjugated estrogens and bazedoxifene. Conjugated estrogens are the main ingredient in the popular hormone replacement drug Premarin. Bazedoxifene is a selective estrogen receptor modulator, or SERM, which means it acts on estrogen receptors in certain tissues by mimicking the hormone.

If you are a regular reader of this site, this probably sounds familiar to you. It should – the osteoporosis drug Evista works very similarly.

Hormone replacement therapy has been around for 60 years. But over the last 2 decades, concerns have arisen over HRT’s role in breast cancer and other undesirable and often serious side effects.

Not surprisingly the prestigious journal Lancet published a collaborative analysis of more than 50 studies. The analysis concludes that “The risk of having breast cancer diagnosed is increased in women using HRT and increases with increasing duration of use.”1

In addition, other dangerous and even deadly side effects began to surface in women taking hormone drugs: deep vein thrombosis, stroke, and blood clots to name a few.

Understandably, many patients and consumers became concerned about the safety HRT. But it seems as if those concerns have not resonated with the pharmaceutical companies… for sure not with Pfizer.

Or is it that…

Big Pharma is Running Out of Ideas to Treat Osteoporosis?

It’s tempting to think that since Duavee is a newly “approved” drug, it could be “safer” than its predecessors. But of course it’s not. It’s really all about a marketing ploy. I’ll explain.

You see, Big Pharma likes to promote these sorts of drugs as “the latest and greatest” for a variety of reasons. For one thing, uninformed patients mistakenly believe that the newer drug will not have the same dangerous side effects as the previous one(s). In addition, marketing old drugs as new ones gives Big Pharma the opportunity to patent the “new” drug and continue to rake in huge profits.

Public awareness of HRT’s dangers means that Pfizer won’t advertise Duavee as just another form of HRT. Instead, it has made a few tweaks to its general formula – basically adding bazedoxifene to the ingredients in Premarin – so they can claim it’s “different” and “better”.

Simply put, Pfizer combined two already existing ingredients with known side effects and declared the combination something innovative and novel.

That means they can patent it, call it by another name, and no one will be the wiser. …no one, that is, except you. Because fortunately, Savers are well ahead of the game.

Duavee’s Side Effects Roulette

Just what are some of these boxed warnings? Here they are, directly from Pfizer’s website:

  • Increased risk of endometrial cancer
  • Increased risk of stroke and deep vein thrombosis
  • Increased risk of dementia in women over age 65

These are Duavee’s “Warnings”

  • Risk of cardiovascular disorders may increase
  • Endometrial, breast, and ovarian cancer are more likely
  • Gallbladder disease can occur
  • Loss of vision is possible
  • Women taking thyroid hormone should be carefully monitored.

Clearly, Duavee’s side effects and “warnings” are very serious and potentially life-changing.

Duavee’s Possible Adverse Reactions

  • Nausea
  • Diarrhea
  • Dyspepsia
  • Upper abdominal pain
  • Throat pain
  • Dizziness
  • Neck pain

Sadly, as patients experience these side effects and reactions, their discomfort will likely be addressed with more drugs (painkillers, anti-inflammatories, etc.) or even surgery.

It’s a Natural Process: Hormones Dwindle with Age

Menopause is a natural process. Like osteoporosis, it is not a disease that needs to be treated or prevented. As I said earlier, the best thing you can do is support your body through the process with a healthy diet and lifestyle, as described in the Osteoporosis Reversal Program.

You’ll Never See a Black Box Warning on the Osteoporosis Reversal Program!

That’s because the Osteoporosis Reversal Program is a 100% safe, scientifically-backed osteoporosis treatment that is simple and easy to understand. The comprehensive lifestyle and nutritional guidelines show you how the food you eat influences bone-degrading systemic acidity, and how to easily correct the pH imbalance, among other things.

A Recipe Sampler included in the Program and extensive food lists make it easy to prepare and enjoy delicious, pH-balanced meals and snacks that promote a more alkaline body environment while providing bone-building nutrients. In addition, the Program covers the importance of exercise in building bone density, and much more.

The Program is completely risk-free – with our one year, double-your money-back guarantee, you have nothing to lose and much to gain.

If you don’t have the Program yet, think about this: are you willing to play the “side effects roulette” game? Are you ready to gamble with your health for the sake of building bone density? I’m here to tell you that fortunately, you don’t have to.

Please click here to learn more about the Program.

Till next time,

References

1 “Breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy: collaborative reanalysis of date from 51 epidemiological studies of 52,705 women with breast cancer and 108,411 women without breast cancer. Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer.” Lancet. October 11, 1997. 350(9084): 1047-59. Web. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10213546