Nexium Fractures: Err on the Side of Concern

June 18, 2013, 1:30PM. By Jane Mundy

Little Rock, ARKen hasn’t suffered a Nexium fracture but he is concerned, having taken the Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) for 15 years, and having read about countless Nexium bone injury lawsuits. (More than 1,000 Nexium lawsuits last December 2012 were centralized into an MDL in the US District Court for the Central District of California.)

“I think attorneys know more about Nexium side effects than doctors in some instances and of course that depends upon whether you are the defense lawyer or the prosecutor,” says Ken, laughing. Of course Ken knows that Nexium fracture risk is no laughing matter and it is a possibility, especially because the chances of developing pump inhibitor side effects such as Nexium hip fracture often increase if you’ve taken the medication for any length of time.

Ken, age 65, started taking Nexium back in 1997 for heartburn. “It has helped but I’ve tried to stop taking it over the years, which has been a struggle,” he says. Now his insurance won’t cover Nexium so yesterday Ken bought a generic brand, which hasn’t worked in the past but he’s going to try again because he would rather face heartburn than Nexium side effects. But Ken is hopeful that the generic drug will work this time. “I get bad heartburn when I lie down so I try not to eat after 6pm,” he explains, “and I frequently sleep sitting up.

“I have multiple medical issues and I don’t know if they can be directly contributed to Nexium but why take a chance?” adds Ken, who has a heart condition. “I’ve had eight stents and an aorta bypass twice in the past six years. It is frustrating but there are people worse off than me. Still I can’t help think Nexium is to blame, because before I took this med, I was in pretty good shape, although my blood pressure was a bit high.

“Doctors are so reluctant to talk about whether they know of a connection to a medication and adverse events and it is getting worse. It is only recently that I have been reading about fractured bones linked to Nexium - my doctors never mentioned it. Regardless, the research online has gotten me to the point where I quit taking it.

“I filed a complaint with LawyersandSettlements because I want to know what is going on: I cannot get that information from a doctor. In the not-too-distant past, before a doctor prescribed a drug, they would bring out the big blue book, look up the drug and tell you the side effects, but they don’t do that anymore - at least the four doctors I see don’t. They just write a prescription and hand it to you…”