Elderly patients, who are on thyroid medications to treat hypothyroidism or an under active thyroid, may be at a higher risk of suffering fractures. According to a new study, California pharmaceutical product liability lawyers may have reason to be concerned that elderly patients who are on the drug levothyroxine, which is a synthetic form of the thyroid hormone, may be at a higher risk of such fractures.

The researchers analyzed data from 200,000 female patients aged 70 and above who were prescribed levothyroxine between April 2002 and March 2007. The researchers then tracked these patients during the follow-up period, which lasted until March 2008. They found that at least 10% of these patients who had taken levothyroxine during the study period, suffered at least one fracture during the follow-up period.

Some levothyroxine users were much more likely to suffer fractures. For instance, people who had recently started taking the drug, or were currently taking the drug were at a much higher risk of suffering fractures, compared to those people who stopped taking the drug a long time ago or had stopped taking it in the past. There is a strong link between the risk of fractures and the dosage of the levothyroxine. People who took high doses had a risk of suffering a fracture that was 3.5 times greater, compared to patients who took lower doses of levothyroxine.

The researchers have concluded that the use of levothyroxine seems to increase the risk of fractures in both men and women, even after considering other factors that could cause fractures.

The researchers are advising that older patients who are on thyroid hormone replacement therapy like levothyroxine, be monitored regularly to determine whether the dosage needs to be adjusted over a period of time. It's also important for doctors to consider that there may be a natural reduction in the thyroid hormone as a result of age, which needs to be taken into consideration while deciding dosage.