Reducing osteoporosis-related fractures is 'public health imperative'

Providing more individuals at risk for osteoporosis with a prescription to buy Fosamax and do other things to improve their bone health could dramatically reduce costs associated with treating fractures, according to a new report.

The National Bone Health Alliance and Kaiser Permanente recently unveiled their "20/20 Vision" plan, which calls for reducing hip fractures and other breaks by 20 percent by the year 2020. Accomplishing this goal could save billions of dollars.

The report states that the cost of treating osteoporosis-related fractures could rise to $25 billion by the year 2025. The high cost is largely attributable to the aging population, which is at much higher risk of developing osteoporosis.

"Reducing the expected number of hip and other fractures by 20 percent by the end of the decade is a public health imperative," said Richard M. Dell, the lead orthopaedic surgeon of Kaiser Permanente's Healthy Bones Program. "It would be a monumental achievement, sparing half a million Americans of horrible pain and suffering and a loss in quality of life."

He added that the cost savings would be tremendous if this goal were to be achieved.