Sanofi Aventis is facing hundreds of product liability claims from numerous women alleging they suffered permanent hair loss after undergoing chemotherapy with Taxotere.

One of the most recent Taxotere lawsuits was filed by a woman from Tennessee, alleging she developed permanent hair loss during the course of her chemotherapy treatment.

Plaintiff Debra M. alleges she developed permanent hair loss as a result of using Taxotere, which the manufacturer allegedly failed to warn against. Like millions of other women, Debra says she was prescribed Taxotere soon after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Her oncologist set her up with a treatment plan that set a strict schedule of when she would receive Taxotere doses. According to the Taxotere lawsuit, Debra was on the chemotherapy treatment regimen from July 1, 2013 to May 31, 2014.

Debra states she has been unable to regrow her hair, and she now contends with permanent hair loss. Debra opted to file legal action against Sanofi Aventis after learning the company may have known about this correlation for years.

Overview of Taxotere Permanent Hair Loss

Taxotere is a popular chemotherapy drug that was approved by the FDA in the mid 1990s for breast cancer treatment, but was later approved to treat other cancers. Even with these additional treatment purposes, Taxotere remains as a prominent choice for breast cancer treatment.

Like other chemotherapy drugs, Taxotere works by targeting rapidly reproducing cells and inhibiting their reproduction ability. This means that hair follicles are often the first group of cells targeted, which commonly results in hair loss.

While hair loss is a common side effect in chemotherapy, permanent hair loss is much rarer. Patients argue that permanent hair loss should be specifically described as a possibility on the drug’s warning label if it has been indicated to cause such incidents. While the Taxotere warning label states that hair “generally grows back” after all treatment is complete, this has allegedly not been the case for many patients.

One study to indicate a correlation between Taxotere and permanent hair loss was published in 2006 by Dr. Scot Sedlacek at the Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers in Colorado, which found that 6.3 percent of breast cancer Taxotere patients grew back less than 50 precent of their hair.

Dr. Sedlacek pointed out that women undergoing breast cancer treatment were assured that their hair would grow back after Taxotere chemotherapy, but also that his results indicated otherwise.

The risk of Taxotere permanent hair loss was eventually addressed by the FDA in December 2015, with the agency ordering Sanofi Aventis to conduct a label change to including cases of permanent alopecia.

Furthermore, it is belied Sanofi Aventis had previously known about the risk of Taxotere permanent hair loss for years because European health officials issued this warning years earlier.

Even though permanent hair loss is a devastating consequence for breast cancer patients, the company allegedly failed to warn the general public. Debra states she would not have agreed to initiate Taxotere chemotherapy, if she had known about the risk of permanent hair loss.

Debra’s Taxotere lawsuit is joining MDL No. 2740, where it will stand alongside other claims alleging similar incidents of permanent hair loss.

This Taxotere Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-06483, in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Louisiana.