A woman has filed a lawsuit against Sanofi-Aventis, manufacturer of the chemotherapy drug Taxotere, alleging the drug caused her permanent hair loss.

Plaintiff Yvonne B. is a resident of Louisiana and was diagnosed in March 2010 with Ductal Carcinoma of the right breast.  She had a total of six rounds of treatment with Taxotere which ended in July 2010.

Taxotere Side Effects

In early 2016, Yvonne realized that she was suffering from permanent Taxotere hair loss from her chemotherapy treatment. Yvonne claimed that she and her treating team were unaware that Taxotere side effects included permanent chemotherapy hair loss.

Taxotere Side Effects May Cause Alopecia

Taxotere (docetavel) is a chemotherapy drug used to treat several cancers but is most commonly used to treat breast cancer.

Like many other cancer-treating drugs, Taxotere side effects include chemotherapy hair loss. However, while hair loss from other chemotherapy drugs is temporary, Taxotere hair loss may be permanent.

According to the lawsuit, the drug manufacturer, “through their publications and marketing materials, misled Plaintiff, the public, and the medical community to believe that, as with other chemotherapy drugs that cause alopecia [hair loss], patients’ hair would grow back.”

Yvonne and others were led to believe this.

Yvonne’s lawsuit claims “permanent baldness (permanent alopecia) is a disfiguring condition, especially for women. Women who experienced disfiguring permanent alopecia as a result of the use of Taxotere suffer great mental anguish as well as economic damages, including, but not limited to, loss of work or inability to work due to significant psychological damage.”

The lawsuit asserts that if there were no other options to treat breast cancer, women may consider accepting permanent hair loss as one of the potential Taxotere side effects.

“Before Defendants’ wrongful conduct resulted in thousands of women being exposed to the side effects to Taxotere, there were already similar products on the market that were at least as effective as Taxotere and did not subject female users to the same risk of disfiguring permanent alopecia as does Taxotere.”

The lawsuit states that, as a result of several studies, up to 9.2% percent of patients experienced persistent alopecia for ten years or longer, however, the manufacturer withheld these study results from physicians and patients.

The lawsuit concludes that “As a result of Defendants’ wrongful conduct, Plaintiff has continued to suffer and will suffer in the future from disfiguring permanent alopecia as a result of receiving chemotherapy with Taxotere.”

Yvonne brings forth four counts against the company for Taxotere side effects including design defect, inadequate warning, breach of express warranty and breach of warranty in redhibition under Louisiana state law.

As a result of her injuries from Taxotere side effects, Yvonne is seeking economic damages including medical and related expenses, physical injury and disability, physical pain and suffering, mental anguish and distress, loss of earnings, impairment to earning capacity and loss of enjoyment of life.

She is also seeking special damages, treble damages, costs, expert witness fees, attorneys’ fees, filing fees and pre- and post-judgment interest.

The Taxotere Permanent Hair Loss Lawsuit is Case No. 2:16-cv-06425 in the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.