Consumer Reports Insights
Pricey Remedy May Not Be Better
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Osteoporosis drugs are big sellers, bringing in some $2 billion in 2008 alone. Consumer Reports notes that now one of the newest of those drugs, ibandronate (more commonly known as Boniva), has scored major -- and no doubt expensive -- marketing points by having actress Sally Field as its spokeswoman.
In a Boniva television commercial, Field discusses how the drug helped her reverse her own osteoporosis-caused bone loss. She also touches upon Boniva's main advantage: It can be taken monthly instead of daily or weekly. Boniva was the first drug in its class -- called bisphosphonates -- with this oral dosage. With other bisphosphonates, you have to take them daily or weekly in the morning, on an empty stomach and stay upright for 30 minutes. With Boniva, you must stay upright for an hour, but that may be little inconvenience for its once-a-month dosage.
What the ad fails to mention is Boniva's pitfalls. It costs about 10 times as much as a generic alendronate whose brand name is Fosamax. And studies done so far haven't shown that Boniva is any more effective at preventing bone fractures -- the goal of a drug designed to treat osteoporosis -- than alendronate, risedronate (Actonel) or other bisphosphonates. For those reasons, CR rates Boniva somewhat lower than older bisphosphonates. If you can spare the half-hour a week needed to stand up after taking a generic alendronate, try that first because it costs less.
Copyright 2009. Consumers Union of United States Inc.
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