An Illinois woman has filed a new lawsuit against Sanofi-Aventis and other companies stating that after she took chemotherapy drug, Taxotere, she failed to return to a normal state of hair growth after chemo.

The plaintiff claims has suffered permanent and disfiguring hair loss as a result of Sanofi-Aventis’ Taxotere.

Plaintiff Joan P. underwent a diagnostic mammogram, biopsy and ultrasound in January 2013. These tests revealed an invasive cancerous growth in one of her breasts.

After these procedures, she underwent a lumpectomy to remove the cancerous growth. Joan saw two oncologists, neither of which claim they were aware that one of the effects of chemotherapy drug, Taxotere, included little or no hair growth after chemo.

Taxotere Side Effect: No Hair Growth After Chemo

Many patients lose their hair while undergoing chemotherapy, but critics of Taxotere, like Joan, claim that after finishing chemotherapy, their hair does not grow back.

Permanent baldness after chemotherapy, however, is uncommon. Recent studies report up to 10% of Taxotere patients have experienced little to no hair growth after chemo.

Chemotherapy drugs, like Taxotere, are designed to kill fast growing cells and is part of the reason they are used to treat cancer. But unfortunately, they also target healthy fast growing cells in the body.

Joan underwent four cycles of chemotherapy in 2013 using both Taxotere and a generic equivalent of Taxotere (docetaxel). By the end of that year, the plaintiff realized that her hair was not returning, even after she finished treatment.

Taxotere is a chemotherapy treatment drug that was approved in 1996.

It is most often used to treat breast cancer, but it can can also be used to treat cancers of lung, prostate, head, and neck.  Taxotere is given intravenously in cycles while the patient is under strict supervision from their physician.

Joan is accusing Sanofi-Aventis of both knowing about Taxotere’s side effect of permanent disfiguring hair loss and of failing to disclose that knowledge.

She claims that Sanofi-Aventis and the other defendants failed to disclose research and investigation from the GEICAM 9805 study in 2005 and did not provide adequate warnings about the true safety risks of Taxotere.

Joan says that nowhere in any of Taxotere’s warnings does it list permanent loss of hair growth after chemo as a frequent side effect, nor did Sanofi-Aventis warn physicians or the medical community about this side effect.

According to this lawsuit, the drug maker also failed to provide adequate instructions to prescribing physicians of Taxotere if their patients complained of stunted hair growth after chemo.

Sanofi-Aventis allegedly did not conduct thorough testing programs for Taxotere, and both sold and marketed Taxotere while knowing that it had not been tested adequately, according to the claim.

The plaintiff is bringing claims of product liability for negligence, design and manufacturing defects, failure to warn, breaches of express and implied warranty, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and deceit, violation of the Illinois Consumer Protection Act and willful and wanton conduct.

The Taxotere Lawsuit is Case No. 16-cv-7710 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.