Bisphosphonates jaw osteonecrosis prevent metastatic cancer cells from dissolving bone. However, new cells will not grow unless older old ones are killed off. Bisphosphonates bond to bone surfaces and prevent osteoclasts (cells that breakdown bone) from doing their job. Because jawbones have rapid cell turnover, bisphosphonates can affect their ability to regrow. The result is that the jawbone does not heal properly after any significant trauma, i.e., dental work, and patients become prone to infections and jaw osteonecrosis ONJ.
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The next substantive step in the Jaw osteonecrosis litigation will be the production of documents by Novartis, which is scheduled to begin by the end of August 2006. Novartis, who has already told us they have 1.7 million documents to deliver to us, is in the process of converting the documents to electronic form so that we can review them by computer rather than by hand. Once this conversion has been done and the documents have been made available to us, we, along with the other attorneys who have filed Zometa Class Action Suit ONJ cases, will begin our review of those materials.
Jaw osteonecrosis (ONJ) is a condition in which part of the jaw bone is no longer alive and cannot regenerate itself due to a lack of blood supply. Most commonly in the past, patients developed ONJ after bone trauma, such as a tooth extraction. Rather than healing, the bone begins to die. In some cases, the bone becomes exposed, which can lead to serious infection and fracture. In extreme cases, surgery is required to remove the Jaw osteonecrosis dead bone