A North Carolina cancer patient recently filed a lawsuit against pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis, alleging that one of its breast cancer drugs, Taxotere, caused her to suffer from severe and permanent hair loss.

The plaintiff, Bertha F., says she began treatment for breast cancer with Taxotere on March 8, 2011, and continued this treatment for several weeks until May 10, 2011. Unfortunately, because of her exposure to this breast cancer drug, Bertha alleges she suffered from permanent hair loss.

She says she lost her eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair on her scalp. But in the time since her chemotherapy ended—it has been more than seven years now—her hair has not grown back. She says she is left without eyebrows and eyelashes, and her scalp still has severe bald spots. In turn, this permanent hair loss has also caused emotional injuries, she claims.

Like most cancer patients, Bertha knew going into chemotherapy that breast cancer drugs often cause hair loss. What she and many other Taxotere patients allegedly were not warned about is that these drugs can cause permanent hair loss, and the patient’s hair may never properly grow back. According to Bertha’s lawsuit, Sanofi (the drug’s manufacturer) failed to adequately warn her of the risk of permanent hair loss after taking its breast cancer drugs.

Bertha filed her breast cancer drugs lawsuit on Sept. 5, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, joining an ever-growing number of similar claims. The lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including failure to warn, negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment, and several others. Bertha’s husband Ed also filed on a count of loss of consortium.

Bertha’s lawsuit is far from the first to be filed over permanent hair loss caused by breast cancer drugs.

Permanent Hair Loss from Breast Cancer Drugs

Taxotere (also known by its generic name, docetaxel) is a popular treatment for breast cancer manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis. Since Taxotere’s approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996, it has become one of the more popular chemotherapy drugs available on the market today.

Unfortunately, Taxotere and other docetaxel medications are not without their risks. More and more patients are coming forward with allegations that Taxotere carries a higher risk of permanent loss of hair after chemo than other options, and that they were not adequately warned about this risk.

Hair loss is a common symptom associated with chemotherapy treatment, including breast cancer drugs. Indeed, the majority of cancer patients go into treatment aware that they will likely lose their hair. However, patients generally expect that their hair will grow back once their chemotherapy treatment is over. But a growing number of cancer patients like Berta say they suffer from permanent hair loss after being treated with Taxotere.

Filing a Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuit

If you or someone you love has suffered from permanent loss of hair after chemo with Taxotere or other breast cancer drugs, you may be able to file or join a lawsuit.

Filing a Taxotere lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering a cancer patient endures, or take away the effects of hair loss after chemo, but it can help compensate for the financial expenses incurred by cancer treatment bills or even lost wages.

The Breast Cancer Drugs Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-08389-JTM-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.