Plaintiff Stephanie I. is the latest cancer patient to allege that she has sustained permanent hair loss during chemotherapy because this a side effect of using Taxotere.

Taxotereis a treatment also known as Docetaxel, commonly given to treat primary breast cancer. This means that the patient’s breast cancer has not spread beyond the breast or lymph nodes.

Taxotere is reported as a relatively effective breast cancer treatment, but is it not without risks. For example, any women who have a history of a weak immune system, lung problems, heart issues, blood pressure concerns, or liver issues are encouraged to inform their doctor about this prior to beginning the treatment.

As with many other women who have come forward following the completion of their chemotherapy, Stephanie alleges that she lost all of her hair, but that this status is permanent because she went through the Taxotere treatment.

Taxotere Lawsuits

The women who had their lawsuits consolidated against Taxotere maker, Sanofi-Aventis, all say that they were not told that hair loss could or would be permanent. Most women undergoing breast cancer chemotherapy understand that one of the possible side effects of the drugs, in general, is hair loss, but many women are able to successfully regrow their hair once chemotherapy treatments are concluded.

This does not seem to be the case for some Taxotere users. A unique aspect of women undergoing the Taxotere treatment is that many of them allege that their hair growth stops altogether. This permanent alopecia is a constant reminder of the cancer experience and can lead to emotional injuries, according to women who have filed lawsuits.

Stephanie alleges that she underwent breast cancer treatment with Taxotere between August and November of 2015 and that she sustained the loss of hair on her scalp, eyelashes, and loss of eyebrows, causing her emotional injuries. She has filed her permanent hair loss chemotherapy lawsuit against manufacturer Sanofi Aventis, making claims of fraud and deceit, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, and failure to warn.

Repercussions of Hair Loss

The loss of hair can have significant repercussions for women, in particular, and the inability to regrow hair can have a lasting impact on a woman’s self-confidence.

Some women who have lost their hair permanently have had to seek alternatives such as wearing a wig and find this a scarring and painful memory of being diagnosed with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy.

Warnings about the possibility of hair loss with Taxotere were released in Europe nearly ten years before it emerged in the U.S. That’s because a U.K. study from 2013 showed that as many as 15 percent of Taxotere patients sustained permanent hair loss.

Most women who are in remission from breast cancer want to move on to a new chapter of their lives without having to cope with emotional injuries from their already completed chemotherapy treatments. Due to the volume of claims against Taxotere manufacturer, the lawsuits over permanent hair loss have been consolidated.

The Hair Loss During Chemotherapy Lawsuit is Case No. 2:19-cv-00080-JTM-MBN in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana.