Drug	Type	Dosage	FDA indication	Comments
Etidronate (Didronel)	First generation	400 mg for 2 weeks every 3 months	Labeled in Canada and Europe but not in the United States	Few adverse events
Alendronate (Fosamax)	N-containing	10 mg per day	Treatment and prevention of PMO and GIO	Esophagitis/upper GI events
	Second generation	5 mg per day
Tiludronate (Skelid)	S-containing	40 mg per day	Treatment of Paget's disease	No effect on fracture risk
Risedronate (Actonel)	N-containing	5 mg per day	Labeling is pending	GI side effects similar to placebo
	Second generation
Pamidronate (Aredia)	N-containing	40 to 80 mg IV every 4 months	Hypercalcemia of malignancy	Some systemic effects with IV therapy; none with oral therapy
	Second generation		Not labeled for treatment of osteoporosis
Ibandronate	Second generation	1 mg IV every 3 months	Not labeled by FDA; still in phase III trials	Well tolerated