Sanofi Aventis is facing a new chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit filed by a South Carolina woman alleging she suffered permanent alopecia after using Taxotere (docetaxel).

Plaintiff Pearl M. agreed to use Taxotere for breast cancer treatment after reviewing the company’s advertisements, and alleges that she had received no warnings or indications of permanent hair loss.

She is filing a chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit after allegedly permanently losing her hair from Taxotere.

Pearl was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2003, after diagnostic screening had found malignant evidence in her right breast.

Luckily she was diagnosed during Stage I, with her treatment prospects stronger. After undergoing bilateral mastectomies, Pearl consulted her oncologist regarding different chemotherapy treatment options.

During this time, her oncologist had not been aware of the possibility of Taxotere permanent hair loss and had no reason not to believe it was a safe and effective.

Pearl underwent four cycles of Taxotere chemotherapy treatment cycles and eventually experienced hair loss.

For years, Pearl had to contend with alopecia, and did not learn of Taxotere’s association with permanent hair loss until 2016.

After the FDA announced that Taxotere may cause permanent hair loss, Pearl had filed her chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit.

According to her chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit, Sanofi Aventis allegedly knew of the drug’s association with alopecia for years.

Overview of Taxotere Hair Loss

Hair loss is a common side effect associated with chemotherapy drugs, as these medications work by targeting rapidly growing cells.

By doing this, the rapidly growing cancer cells are killed off along with other fast growing cells like hair follicles.

However, the hair typically grows back after some point after their chemotherapy treatment, which is one of the things women with breast cancer look forward to.

Taxotere was approved by the FDA in 1996 as a treatment for breast cancer, but has since been approved to treat several other variations.

This medication is typically used for breast cancer treatment, with its medication label indicating that permanent hair loss was only a slight possibility and that the hair would eventually grow back.

This was not the case with Pearl, as she is still suffering from chemotherapy hair loss.

She is filing this chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit against Sanofi Aventis for failing to warn her against alopecia.

Sanofi Aventis allegedly omitted this information from the drug’s warning label to protect Taxotere’s market value.

Pearl stated that she never would have used Taxtotere if she had known of the possibility of permanent hair loss.

This Chemotherapy Hair Loss Lawsuit is Case No. 3:16-cv-02843-MGL, in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina, Columbia Division.