
Reading up on the latest osteoporosis news last week, I found some fascinating information that I’m really happy to share with you today.
Merck, the pharmaceutical company that makes Fosamax, is facing some challenging legal developments. The number of lawsuits involving Fosamax is snowballing, requiring a judge’s intervention.
Once again, well-known mainstream doctors are openly questioning milk’s reputation as a healthy beverage, and scientists have found a new way to administer osteoporosis drugs directly to fractured bones.
And of course, I always like to end the news with something upbeat and positive, so make sure you check out the amazing video at the end.
Judge Issues Unusual Fosamax Lawsuit Order Much to Merck's Detriment
If you’ve been keeping track of Merck’s Fosamax lawsuits, then you are aware of the pharmaceutical giant’s tendency to evade justice. But it looks like the tables are turning.
Having heard the initial bellwether trials, U.S. District Judge John Keenan has ordered hundreds of cases against Merck dispersed to their states of origin. The usual practice is to consolidate mass tort cases, which makes it easier on the defendant (in this case, Merck) to reach settlements. But if each case is heard in its state of origin, it has the potential to be much more costly for Merck.
News Excerpt:
“The decision by U.S. District Judge John Keenan in Manhattan marks an unusual and potentially costly development for Merck.
Companies often find it easier to reach settlements in mass tort cases that are consolidated before one judge.
‘It's a big deal as it changes the cost paradigm for Merck exponentially,’ said Timothy O'Brien, a partner at Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Rafferty & Proctor and lawyer representing Fosamax plaintiffs.
The judge's order Thursday requires that 200 cases per month be sent to back to courts where they were initially filed, beginning with the oldest ones.”1
Judge Keenan’s order affects only the hundreds of cases before him, which represent a fraction of the 5,075 total pending lawsuits regarding the dangerous side effects of Fosamax.
It’s shameful that people’s health and well-being have to be sacrificed before companies like Merck are held accountable for the harmful effects of osteoporosis drugs. But hopefully the publicity of these cases will give doctors and osteoporosis “patients” pause before taking these drugs.
Incredible! Dr. Oz Openly Rethinks the Benefits of Drinking Milk
It’s one thing when an “alternative” medical professional questions the health properties of milk; but it’s quite another when a mainstream physician and TV personality like Dr. Oz takes issue with it. No less shocking is that he was joined by Dr. Michael Roizen of the Cleveland Clinic.
Taking note of the various studies that call milk’s nutritional benefits into question, both doctors amazingly agreed that they just couldn’t ignore the evidence against consuming milk.
News Excerpt:
“As more scientific studies question cow milk’s long-famous benefits and expose potential problems that eating dairy products may trigger, we want to tell you what we think about the new findings: We believe the evidence is troubling, but not conclusive…
…Essential for strong bones? Maybe not. You do need calcium, along with magnesium, potassium and vitamins D and K, to build and maintain strong bones and protect yourself from late-life fractures that lower quality of life and lead to premature death. Milk’s got all three minerals plus D, but it’s not the only source. And while there’s evidence that it can bolster bone density, there’s also some research that indicates milk might not protect against fractures. That could knock out one big reason you drink milk.”2
I wonder if Drs. Oz and Roizen will experience any backlash from their colleagues and audience, because when it comes to milk, things can get pretty controversial. This is understandable – decades of advertising by the dairy industry have convinced the public at large that “milk does a body good.” We’ve all been fed a steady diet of positive messages about milk, even though some of the “evidence” of milk’s health-boosting properties is pretty dubious…even ridiculous.
Take, for example, an article from early this year that exposes the inane connection between drinking milk and intelligence. “Countries whose people drink more milk win more Nobel prizes, according to research published Tuesday in Practical Neurology, a serious British journal,”3 says the article.
But the search for “ ‘some kind of cause and effect relationship… in the case I described here, none of it is convincing, none whatsoever,’”3 says researcher Dr. Franz Messerli.
In other words, just because the inhabitants of a country drink more milk and also happen to win more Nobel prizes doesn’t mean that milk boosted the inhabitants’ intelligence. But because we’ve been led to believe that milk is such a “health food”, such unsound information is readily accepted.
It’s interesting that such ridiculous studies about milk’s so-called benefits get published in a prominent medical journal, while mounting evidence pointing out the unhealthy aspects of drinking milk gets ignored or ridiculed. Luckily, the truth is slowly but surely coming to light.
Nanoparticles Deliver Osteoporosis Drugs to Bone Microfracture Sites
When you give the body what it needs, it is capable of healing itself. But when mainstream medicine sees something that needs to be healed, such as a fracture, they turn to drugs. And the faster they can get those drugs into your body, the better. Now scientists are exploring the use of “nanotrucks,” microscopic particles of polylactic-co-glycolic acid which carry and deliver osteoporosis drugs – in this case, sodium alendronate (Fosamax) – directly to the site of microscopic fractures.
News Excerpt:
“The goal of this set of experiments was to make a self-powered nanotruck that could carry the osteoporosis drug (sodium alendronate) and would have a good chance of being safe for use inside the human body.
Like the nanoparticles in the previous tests, the FDA-approved nanotruck material had a little fluorescent molecule attached to it so its movements could be seen under a microscope. ‘Our experiments show that this bio-safe nanomotor can, in fact, successfully carry the osteoporosis drug to a fresh crack in a human bone,’ Sen said. He explained that, even when these nanomotors were loaded with millions of molecules of their bone-healing cargo, each one still was 30 to 40 times smaller than a red blood cell.
In a final set of experiments, done in the Grinstaff lab at Boston University, graduate student Jonathan Freedman tested the same osteoporosis drug on live human bone ells. ‘The treated bone cells increased in number as compared with those that were not treated with the osteoporosis drug, which confirms other studies that have shown that this drug is effective in repairing human bones,’ Grinstaff said.”4
The irony here is that the researchers are hoping this technique will prevent microfractures from becoming full-blown fractures. But sodium alendronate, like all bisphosphonates, increases fracture risk, and particularly microfracture risk.
Another concern here is the polylactic-co-glycolic acid used in the administration of the drug. This substance is a polymer, and one can only guess what damage microscopic particles of this substance could do to human bone tissue.
The Key is to Avoid Fractures in the First Place…
…by improving bone quality and increasing the strength, flexibility, and density of your bones without drugs. The Osteoporosis Reversal Program and Densercise™ can show you how.
This is the perfect time to give the Program a try, because it’s now backed by a 1-year, double your money back guarantee. Simply use the Program for a full year, and if you don’t see results, you’ll receive double your money back. Please click here for details on this special offer.
The Densercise™ eBook System is backed by a 60-day, money-back guarantee, so you can try it without risk. Densercise™ consists of an extensive digital manual and permanent access to online videos, and is specifically designed to improve bone density. It’s the perfect companion to the Program’s comprehensive nutritional and lifestyle plan that is designed to naturally improve bone health.
Here’s an Idea: Why Not Densercise™ with Your Pet?
If you share your home with a pet, why not include him or her while you Densercise™ ? Well, I’m really joking, but when you’ll watch the amazing video of a man practicing yoga with his Chihuahua, you’ll know why I wrote this. The video is in Italian, but words are not necessary to appreciate the cuteness!
Watch this funny and adorable video:
Till next time,
References
1 Reuters, Nate Raymond. “Hundreds of Fosamax lawsuits versus Merck ordered readied for trial.” Chicago Tribune. August 30, 2013. Web. https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-merck-fosamax-20130830,0,1627005.story
2 “Drs. Oz and Roizen: Milk news that’ll shake you up.” The Windsor Star. August 28, 2013. Web. https://blogs.windsorstar.com/2013/08/28/drs-oz-and-roizen-milk-news-thatll-shake-you-up/
3 Brean, Joseph. “Correlation and causation: The good statistical lesson behind study associating drinking milk and Nobel prizes.” National Post. January 14, 2013. Web. https://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/14/correlation-and-causation-the-good-statistical-lesson-behind-study-associating-drinking-milk-and-nobel-prizes/
4 Kennedy, Barbara K. “Novel self-powered nanoparticles developed to deliver healing drugs directly to bone cracks.” Phys.org. August 29, 2013. Web. https://phys.org/news/2013-08-self-powered-nanoparticles-drugs-bone.html
HI, Vivian
I know how you feel about Flu shots, but what do you think
of Shingles shots? Should I or shouldn’t I?
Thank you for all you do for us.
Kitty
I have been taking bisphosphonates for a dozen years. Both parents had osteoporosis. I have lost 3/10 of an inch in height. I’ve been off of the bisphosphonates for 2 years now. Do you think your ” Save Your Bones” program
could help me at this point in my life.?
Actually, I have a question. I have been hearing a lot about strontium for building strong, flexible bones. What is your opinion on taking strontium supplements?
first let me answer redman;s comment yougurt is very good for you i ate it almost all my life as i am lebanese and we make it and use it a lot i am 91 and have been very healthy all my life had six kids the only time i was in a hospital until fell at 90 playing ping pong with my great grandkid but i also ate good food and no junk food and tended towards sour stuff more instead of sweets but of course the food and even milk was a LOT better than it is today. parents today don’t feed their kids they let them eat anything they want , who’s the boss here? that is the problem today the beginning. once they are trained when little to eat good when they get older they won’t argue with you about food cause they are used to eating the good stuff. wish you all good health
Vivian
Where do you get these fantastic scenes? I was amazed to watch puppy do as his master. I could not believe that it was practised by a dog, our best friend. Thanks for prompting me to laugh, which I understand is healthy.
You are right – laughter is excellent for your health! 🙂 I am glad you enjoyed the video. It is truly amazing as well as funny!
Hi! Vivian,
It Will Be Very Interesting To See What Happens To Dr. Oz On His New Views About Milk!
Keep Us Posted About It, Just In Case We Miss It.
Thank You, As Always For All You Do.
LOVE, LESLIE (MS. L. CARMEL)
Cool video, enjoyed it a lot.
Shula
Hi Vivian, thank you for all your information once again, and all the comments from all the lovely people out there. I use almond milk on my cereal, but cows milk in my naturally decaf tea. The weather here (England) has been hot and suuny this year allowing us to soak up all that Vitamin D, but I was wondering how long do we store it for? Can any one answer this question. Thank you.
Micky
A lot has been said about milk, what good and bad effects we get from drinking it as well as taking other dairy products. May I suggest that you publish the article about Moringa oleifera, a plant that is now consider a super food. It contains a lot more calcium than milk, more potassium than bananas, more vitamin A than carrots, more iron than spinach and more…
Has all the essential amino acids, more than 17 antioxidants. Grows in several continents, sometimes can be found just along the roads in some Asian countries. It’s so unfortunate that this plant grows in areas where malnutrition exists like India, Africa and Asia.
I am one of you avid reader-so much important articles that i have not learned in my medical practice. Thank you! More power to you and God Bless!
Thoroughly enjoy your articles so keep them coming!! I am following your plan to save my bones!! but somehow missed the receipe for the Onion Soup. Is it possible for you to send it to me? Thank you very much. SM.
Well I must share this with your readers today. I had my obgyn once a year physical and she said I am so healthy…part of the conversation centered around me not taking any osteoporosis drugs and I thought…here we go..she is going to start in again telling me to take them. Instead she said they no longer recommend taking any osteo drugs when women come in now…because of what they have learned over the last 10 yrs. WOW! It is the first time a doctor has admitted this and everything she quoted was what Vivian is teaching us on this web site!! She even mentioned the DEXA scan not being totally convincing of a person’s bone health. I was like…”yes” doctors are finally seeing the damaging effects from the drugs. So thank you Vivian for teaching these things early on!!
WOW yes indeed thats brilliant. Thanks to you and a big thank you also to Vivian for keeping us so up to date, good news all round. England
Thanks for sharing, that is wonderful news .
Good news, Mary Kay!
Still not making a lot of progress. My hip density wont go up. It it because i lead a sedentery life?
I cannot disagree that we don’t need as much milk as adults as we do as children but I do wonder about all of the slamming you do of one of nature’s foods. While you and others I have read say that cows’ milk is only for calves and not for human consumption I think you are stepping out on a limb. Milk has been a staple in most American diets long before American Milk Producers ever even thought of becoming organized. Our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents grew up drinking milk. Since you do state that it is an acidic food why do you continue to want it deleted totally from our diets? Why can milk not be considered part of the 20% acid if that is our choice?
Another question I have is while it is stated that the countries and states with the highest incidences of osteoporosis are countries and states that rely heavily on dairy products, has anyone ever considered that those same countries and states are also mostly northern countries with shorter growing seasons and lesser amounts of sunshine due to the shortening of the days in winter along with limited exposure to direct sunlight? I am from Michigan and while I was growing up fresh fruits and vegetables were no longer available after the end of summer. Has anyone taken climate into consideration while they are condemning those of us who enjoy the occasional dairy product? Just wondering. For the record, I do, for the most part, follow your dietary recommendations and my T-scores have improved over the past 3 years. However, I also do enjoy an occasional bowl of cereal with real milk or a bowl of ice cream for dessert.
Raw milk from grass fed cows is excellent for bone health in general.
Milk is not good when it comes from confined cows on grain diet. Grain diet gives the milk lots of unnatural fats that are inflammatory because the cow’s digestive system is loaded with unnatural micro organisms.
The Calcium from milk is said to be poorly absorbed, in fact, it is well absorbed, but the inflammatory and acidifying effect of ordinary milk causes the body to release much ot the calcium that was absorbed.
Luc, I like what u have to say. Pls let me know if this mainly yr opinion. I am very interested in raw dairy, cultured foods, and unprocessed foods,etc. Would like to read any information on this. Thanks!
Barbara, here is a link about the benefits of raw milk you might be interested in:
https://www.raw-milk-facts.com/raw_milk_health_benefits.html
Question : I only have skim milk in coffee or with cereal. But I do eat a lot of Greek yogurt. Is that bad for me as well ?
Thank you
My gbyn keeps telling me I have osteopenna and he always wants me to take something for it. but I refuse.. I read all the side affects and I don’t like what I see. I had over the years 3 tests (bone scans ) but every year he(dr) does’t tell me if it got better or worst,what’s a girl gotta do . and they don’t go by T zones either . Were would you go to get the test to show T zone in ny LI.
Many comments concerning the negative health effects of cow’s milk have been publicized in your blog, Vivian, but there never seems to be a distinction made between (i) the industrial grade product produced by big dairy corporations that is usually obtained from caged, GMO-fed dairy cattle, then homogenized and ultra-pasteurized to such an extent that any remaining nutritional value has been lost, and (ii) raw milk obtained from properly grass-fed and pastured cattle, non-homogenized and pasteurized, handled by local, usually organically-certified dairies held to much higher sanitation standards than required for Big Dairy corporations. It would seem more fair for you to include some reference to this alternative milk product, and perhaps an acknowledgement to the Weston A. Price Foundation website where one can judge for oneself the comparative data between the two vastly different versions of cow’s milk. I do enjoy your blog very much, it is full of useful information, but in this case I think there is more to the story! Incidentally, I am in no way affiliated with the Weston A. Price Foundation, but I do subscribe to their claim that raw milk is an extremely nutritious product (I use it only in making home-made kefir, a fermented drink that I understand is not acidifying since the milk sugar, lactose, is nearly totally converted in the fermentation process to lactic acid).
-Mike
Hi Mike,
Thank you for your contribution! You will find some references to raw milk on this site, such as in Question #1 of this blog post:
https://saveourbones.com/vivian-answers-day-9/
The vast majority of people who drink milk drink the sort that you find in the grocery store. 🙂 “Grocery store milk” is readily available to the public at large and it’s what the dairy industry is referring to with its advertising campaigns.
Raw milk is still an acidifying animal protein, and the bottom line is, cow’s milk is designed for the nutritional needs of calves, not humans!
I have been drinking raw milk now since April. I do belong to Weston-Price which has many articles about the power of raw milk, cheese etc. I wish you would take time to study up the pros-cons of raw milk. I will know more after my bone density exam next year. This is a fascinating topic. We need more information.
have you evaluated Semperflex which has the UC-II put out by Dr Douglass..
How to prevent osteoporosis in breast cancer patient who is on tamoxifen?
Tq
I am a breast cancer survivor on anastrozole, is it possible to reverse my osteoporosis with your products?
Cheryl, I have asked this Program that question myself but didn’t get an answer. I can tell you that I too was on Arimidex for 3 yrs and took myself off it 3 months ago with my Oncologist’s OK because I told him how negative I felt when I took it since I’d just been told I had to have back surgery due to severe arthritis and slipped vertebra and other bone problems all in the same lumbar area. Two years ago I was Osteopenic but my bone density last month showed I was borderline Osteoporotic.
I felt the Arimidex was the main contributor. I’m told the 3rd year is where most of the bone problems show up but most of the damage is done the first year. I take Synthroid too which doesn’t help the bones. I still want an answer as to whether the Program helps when we are on drugs that cause osteoporosis. Steroid inhalers also can cause osteoporosis. I am, however, following a fruit and veggie diet with seeds and nuts and try to stay away from dairy, meat, grains etc. and trying to exercise more. It’s hard but I won’t take the drugs and the Arimidex only gives a 2% chance of helping you. Those statistics I was given by the doctor this year. When I started on it there was a 1% chance.
I too am a breast cancer survivor…one year tomorrow. I am on Arimidex which is an anti hormone for the next ten years. My bone density this past month…austioporosis in my spine and austiopenia in my hip. The want me to take fosomax and I am afraid of the side effects. What do I do?
I to am a breast cancer survivor, 1 year this past July. For now I have been told to stop taking Tamoxifen, after much testing I was told that my blood is at risk for blood clots therefore one of the side effects of Tamoxifen is blood clots, and I can’t take the other available pill because of the osteo. Personally I am happy to not have to take any pill that may cause me to have blood clots. Any suggestions??