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A new study tries to assure folks about the safety of Fosamax and Reclast. It found that long-term use does not significantly raise the risk of a rare type of fracture near the hip.

The drugs prevent more fractures than any they may cause when used to treat the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, said the study's leader, Dr. Dennis Black of the University of California, San Francisco.

"If we treated 1,000 osteoporotic women for three years, we estimate you would prevent 100 fractures," at a possible cost of one or fewer of the unusual bone breaks examined in this study, he said.

Researchers combined results from three large studies involving more than 14,000 women who were given Fosamax, Reclast or dummy treatments for three to 10 years.

In all, 284 hip and leg fractures occurred, including 12 of the unusual upper-thigh type. There was a trend toward more of these unusual fractures among bisphosphonate users, but the difference was small enough to have occurred by chance.

From CBS news.