Forteo, also known as teriparatide, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of osteoporosis in 2002. According to researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, the drug appears to be effective in treating bone fractures as well.

 

Forteo was tested in 145 patients who had unhealed bone fractures. After only eight to twelve weeks on the drug, 93 percent of them had significant healing. The finding is of great importance, keeping in mind that an estimated 5 percent of the 6 million fractures suffered by Americans annually are slow to heal or do not heal at all, and as many as a quarter of the elderly with pelvic and hip fractures die within a year as a result of their injuries.

 

“This is a drug with a good clinical track record that has proved to be remarkably safe, and it could have great utility,” said Dr. Richard S. Bockman, chief of the endocrine service at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. He was not involved in the study.

 

Some drugs are already using Forteo off-label for the treatment of bone fractures. If further research shows its effectiveness forhard-to-heal breaks such as pelvic fractures and spinal fractures, it could be adopted more broadly.