Drug Reduces Fractures and Death after Hip Fracture

In an excellent example of secondary prevention a study of 2,127 patients who received the drug zoledronic acid (trade name Reclast) within 90 days of surgery for a hip fracture had a 28 percent reduction in death and were 35 percent less likely to suffer another fracture. "These data show that we can go beyond cutting the risks of future fractures to reducing the death rate after these disabling fractures," said Kenneth W. Lyles, M.D., geriatrician and endocrinologist who works at Duke University Medical Center