Merck Argues Fosamax Bone Fracture Suits Were Rightly Dismissed

Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. told a federal appeals court that federal drug labeling law bars hundreds of suits by plaintiffs who link thighbone fractures to its osteoporosis drug Fosamax, urging the court to affirm their dismissal.

The drugmaker couldn’t have changed the Fosamax warning any sooner than it did, it told the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a Wednesday brief. The plaintiffs’ claims are barred by impossibility preemption principles because it couldn’t have simultaneously complied with federal and state warning obligations, Merck said.

The plaintiffs suffered fractures before 2010. They allege Merck didn’t warn ...