Watch out -- a dangerous osteoporosis combo is coming your way

Drug warning alert: This ‘cure’ may be far worse than the disease

I’m noticing a very dangerous trend unfold.

Combo meds — two well-known risky drugs put together to make a “super” pill.

I’ve warned you about several already.

But what’s coming down the pike appears to be the most dangerous twofer of all.

Either one of these drugs should never have been approved by the FDA in the first place. But to even think about putting them together, well, that should be criminal!

Both are high-risk drugs for osteoporosis. And don’t think only women are in danger of being given this combo, because guys are in the crosshairs, too.

Both these drugs are equal opportunity killers.

If you have any risk factors for osteoporosis, or are a man being treated for prostate cancer, there are some very important things you need to know.

And I want you to know them before your doctor pulls up a chair, sits down, and says it’s time to have that chat about your bones.

Work on this deadly combo started a couple of years ago.

Pharma giants Amgen, which makes Prolia, and Eli Lilly, the maker of Forteo, got together and hired some shills at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The drug companies wanted to see what would happen if they gave women both Prolia and Forteo at the same time.

This “research” group found 94 postmenopausal women to be the guinea pigs for this experiment. The women were assigned to either take Prolia or Forteo, and a group of very “lucky” women got to take both drugs.

The study went on for a year. And during that time some of the participants got hypercalcemia, a dangerously high level of calcium in your blood. It can cause broken bones, kidney stones, and heart and brain problems.

Others suffered heart attacks, got high blood sugar and were diagnosed with breast cancer. But not to worry — the doctors in charge said those problems were certainly not related to the bone drugs.

Yeah, right.

At the end of the study, the paid-off docs from Mass. General announced that “this specific combination of drugs” looks like a very “useful” option for those with a high-fracture risk.

That gave the green light for Big Pharma to speed along with the next step — to “establish the optimal dose and treatment duration.”

Now, to understand why this is so horribly dangerous, all you have to do is take a look at these two meds. It’s enough to send a chill up your spine.

Forteo was approved for both men and women by the FDA back in 2002. And it’s so dangerous even the FDA said it can only be used for a total of two years.

And then you can never take it again for your entire life.

Now, aside from some awful side effects like extreme low blood pressure that can result in dizziness and fainting and the hypercalcemia I told you about, Forteo also has a black box warning for bone cancer.

The FDA is very concerned about that bone-cancer risk. And it’s working on learning more about it. And it will, maybe, at some point in the future. But don’t hold your breath.

In the meantime, Ely Lilly will pay Forteo users 5 whole dollars to participate in its Forteo “patient registry.” That’s to help “others like you,” its website says.

The idea is to get those who take the drug to join its registry so Lilly will be able to track you if you come down with bone cancer.

Well, that’s certainly worth 5 bucks, isn’t it?

Prolia is another winner in the deadly side effect department. That’s the drug that actress Blythe Danner pitches. You know, she walks on and off stage, saying how she takes “break a leg” more seriously since she was diagnosed with osteoporosis.

It appeared on pharmacy shelves in 2010 with a book-long list of warnings. Things like hypercalcemia, serious allergic reactions, an inflammation of the lining of your heart, and…serious jaw bone problems and fractures.

Now imagine the nightmare of putting those two drugs together.

It should be enough to make osteoporosis seem benign by comparison.

Sources:
“Forteo plus Prolia builds bone” Nancy Walsh, MedPage Today, medpagetoday.com

“New warnings for Prolia” Worst Pills, Best Pills newsletter, June 16, 2014 worstpills.org