Truvada is a prescription medicine that can reduce a person’s likelihood of being infected with HIV-1.

The drug is intended for people at risk of getting HIV-1 who also weigh at least 77 pounds. In order to get this medication, the person must be HIV negative when beginning the treatment. For Truvada to be effective, the patient has to take it every day.

According to some users, however, the safety profile presented with the drug does not prepare patients for the possibility of bone loss that could occur. Bone loss can lead to other health problems.

What is Bone Loss?

Bone loss is also referred to as osteoporosis, a disease that leads to bones becoming brittle or even more susceptible to breaking. The bones lose necessary density to remain strong, which could cause health issues for anyone who has moderate to severe bone loss.

Certain kinds of bone loss can occur with no underlying cause. Other cases are due to the aging process or other health-related factors. It often takes a person fracturing a bone to realize they have suffered from any form of bone loss.

While there are other causes of bone loss, sometimes taking specific medications could put a patient at risk. Truvada is one such medicine.

Bone loss due to taking a PrEP drug like Truvada is most likely to happen at the spine or the hips.

Have Studies Found a Connection with Truvada and Bone Loss?

A small study completed in Australia found that men who were taking Truvada as a PrEP treatment had higher rates of bone loss than what was found in previous research studies.

Other studies have also shown that some bone loss can be stopped after the Truvada regimen is discontinued, but patients continue to report concerns.

A recent demonstration project identified that men experienced noticeable bone loss after beginning their treatment with Truvada. Those men who had undetectable levels of tenofovir were able to increase their bone density, whereas bone mineral levels dropped substantially for those who had blood levels highly protective against the HIV infection.

Even though the damage done could be reversed if the patient discontinues treatment, there are still concerns about how severe this bone loss might be and whether or not the company making the treatment did attempt to hide the risks even when there were safer options.

Have Lawsuits Already Been Filed?

Pateints have taken legal action against the makers of tenofovir drugs, Gilead, in claiming that the manufacturer knew about the risks of this medicine and had a safer alternative but failed to make the public aware of that fact.

They argue that the company making the medicine purposefully put off development of the safer drug in order to continue generating profits from the older version which had risks of bone loss.