The reason for the mortality difference is unclear, Dr. Watts said. “This was not an end point in the main trail and only significant in a small subgroup of high risk patients. It's clear that women who fracture have decreased survival, so it's logical that preventing fracture would reduce mortality.”
The study was funded by Amgen Inc., from which Dr. Boonen has received renumeration for research, consulting, and lecturing. Four of the study's coinvestigators are employees of Amgen, and the others disclosed relationships with Amgen and several other pharmaceutical companies.
Dr. Watts is director, cofounder, and owner OsteoDynamics and holds stock and patents. He has received fees and/or honoraria from numerous drug companies including Amgen, Novartis, Warner Chilcott, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Takeda, and Vivus.