Tamara Burns  |  June 24, 2016

Category: Legal News

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Courageous Cancer PatientA Texas resident has filed a Taxotere lawsuit against Sanofi Aventis, alleging the company’s breast cancer chemotherapy drug caused her to suffer from Taxotere side effects including permanent hair loss.

Plaintiff Alina G. was diagnosed with infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the left breast in January 2013.

The following month, Alina began chemotherapy to treat her breast cancer before undergoing surgery on her left breast.

In total, Alina underwent six cycles of Taxotere breast cancer chemotherapy. Her final treatment finished in June 2013.

Taxotere Side Effects Allegations

According to the Taxotere lawsuit, after going through treatment Alina “suffered from disfiguring permanent alopecia as a result of receiving chemotherapy with Taxotere.”

Alina claims that the drug’s manufacturer knew about the severe Taxotere side effects including permanent hair loss and shared that information with other countries, but did not disclose the information to U.S. residents

“Despite the fact that Defendants disclosed risks associated with TAXOTERE® and permanent alopecia to patients and regulatory agencies in other countries, Defendants failed to either alert Plaintiff, the public, and the scientific community in the United States or perform further investigation into the safety of TAXOTERE® regarding the side effect of disfiguring permanent alopecia,” the Taxotere lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit also claims that Sanofi Aventis has received prior FDA warnings regarding “unsubstantiated claims of superiority” relating to Taxotere, as well as a qui tam lawsuit that alleged Sanofi Aventis and its affiliates engaged “in a fraudulent marketing scheme, paying kickbacks, and providing other unlawful incentives to entice physicians to use Taxotere.”

Alina’s Taxotere lawsuit acknowledges that most women who undergo chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer suffer from hair loss, also known as alopecia.

However, she claims, the makers of Taxotere “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, patients’ hair would grow back.”

The Taxotere side effects lawsuit states, “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.”

Alina claims that the Taxotere side effects, including permanent hair loss, were not adequately explained to her before her breast cancer chemotherapy treatment began.

She alleges that she and other patients who were treated with Taxotere “were not presented with the opportunity to make an informed choice as to whether the benefits of Taxotere were worth its associated risks.”

Alina further claims other breast cancer treatments were available that did not lead to permanent hair loss, however, she was not made aware of these other alternatives.

Alina’s Taxotere Side Effects Lawsuit is Case No. 1:16-cv-00637 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division.

Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or Taxotere class action lawsuit is best for you. [In general, Taxotere lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.] Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.

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If you received intravenous chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer and were told that your hair would grow back but it never did, you may have a legal claim. Permanent hair loss is defined as a minimum of 6 months after the Taxotere chemotherapy treatment ended, and there is still no new hair growth. Join this free Taxotere class action lawsuit investigation now!

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