Study: Bone drug cuts deaths, broken bones in some elderly patients

ATLANTA (AP) — Research led by a Duke University doctor shows that an osteoporosis drug has helped elderly people endure — and survive — broken hips.

There were 28 percent fewer deaths and 35 percent fewer fractures in the group that got a once-a-year infusion of the drug Reclast compared to those who got a dummy treatment.

Dr. Kenneth Lyles says no other osteoporosis drug study published in at least 15 years has shown such a pronounced reduction in deaths.

Lyles is the lead author of the study, which was released online Monday by The New England Journal of Medicine. It coincides with a presentation at a medical conference in Hawaii and will be published in a later edition of the journal.

The research was funded by Novartis, which makes Reclast. Lyles has two patent applications for use of the drug.

More than 300,000 hip fractures occur in the United States each year. Roughly one in five elderly victims die within a year of breaking their hip.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)