ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 12, 1996 TAG: 9609130045
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
Study: Osteoporosis drug also preventive
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Fosamax, the first drug in 20 years to treat osteoporosis, also prevents the bone-thinning disease, according to the results of a study released Wednesday.
Merck & Co., Fosamax's maker, hopes to use the findings to spur sales of the drug, which have thus far failed to meet industry expectations.
Fosamax was approved by the Food and Drug Administration last September. Merck has promoted it as being just as effective in treating osteoporosis as the more traditional medicine - hormone pills that many women won't take because they've been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.
The new study on prevention was released in Seattle at a meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
The two-year study involved 1,609 women ages 45 to 59 who have been through menopause.
The results showed women taking Fosamax experienced an increase in bone mass density in their spine by 3.46 percent. That means the drug restored bone mass to the same levels the women had 2-to-4 years before the study, researchers said.
E-coli scare hurts Japan beer sales
TOKYO - Beer consumption in Japan fell in August as a food poisoning scare that killed at least 10 people cut business at restaurants, the government said.
Sales at Japan's four major breweries - Kirin Brewery Co., Asahi Breweries, Sapporo Breweries and Suntory - fell 15.8 percent last month from a year earlier to 587,000 kiloliters, the National Tax Administration said.
Consumers stayed away from restaurants and bars following the outbreak of the virulent strain of E-coli virus, the tax office said.
During the period from June to August, beer sales fell 1.0 percent from the same period last year, the administration said.
- Bloomberg Business News
Orange Co. jury told to press on
SANTA ANA, Calif. - Jurors in the first Orange County bankruptcy trial told the judge Wednesday they were unable to reach a verdict after a week of deliberations. The judge said keep trying.
The Orange County Superior Court jury told Judge J. Stephen Czuleger that his answers to their questions were not helping them decide the fate of the county's former budget director Ronald S. Rubino.
Czuleger told them it was their duty to try harder to reach a verdict. He sent them home but ordered them to return Thursday to resume deliberations in hope of avoiding a mistrial.
Rubino is accused of aiding and abetting the diversion of funds by former county Treasurer Robert L. Citron.
- Associated Press
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