A California woman has filed a Taxotere chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit against drug maker Sanofi-Aventis, alleging the company’s intravenous chemo treatment caused her to suffer permanent hair loss.

Plaintiff Abigail S. was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer in December 2010.

Following surgical treatment that included a lumpectomy and lymph node resection, she underwent six cycles of chemotherapy in 2011 that included Taxotere.

According to Abigail, she did not know or suspect until 2016 that she was suffering from continuing hair loss as a result of taking Taxotere.

Although hair loss is a common side effect related to chemotherapy drugs, permanent hair loss or alopecia is not.  According to the Taxotere chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit, Sanofi-Aventis misled the plaintiff, the public, and the medical community to believe that, as with other chemotherapy drugs that cause hair loss, patients’ hair would grow back.

Likewise, the lawsuit further alleges that Sanofi-Aventis engaged in a pattern of deception by overstating the benefits of Taxotere as compared to other alternatives while at the same time failing to warn of the risk of disfiguring permanent alopecia.

Because the words permanent alopecia or permanent hair loss do not appear on in any information published by the drug maker in the United States, thousands of women were exposed to the risk of disfiguring permanent alopecia without any warning.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that the drug maker concealed the existence of studies from the FDA, physicians, and patients that refuted the drug maker’s claims.

Abigail brings this Taxotere chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit on eleven counts that include product liability for negligence, manufacturing defect, failure to warn and extreme and outrageous conduct/intentional infliction of emotional distress.

She is seeking judgment against Sanofi-Aventis for her injuries, harms, damages and losses, as well as attorneys’ fees and court costs.  A jury trial has been demanded.

About Taxtotere

Taxotere (docetaxel) is a drug used in the treatment of various forms of cancer, including breast cancer and is part of a family of drugs commonly referred to as Taxanes, chemical compounds widely used as chemotherapy agents and originally derived from plants of the genus Taxus (yew tree).

Taxotere works by inhibiting mitosis, or cell division. Unfortunately, like most chemotherapy drugs, Taxotere affects healthy cells as well as cancerous ones.

In June 2011, an article published in the American Journal of Dermatopathology indicated that there is increased evidence that certain chemotherapy regimens can cause dose-dependent permanent alopecia (hair loss).

In the article, the authors discuss a total of ten cases of permanent alopecia after systematic chemotherapy; six of those treatments used docetaxel (Taxotere) to treat breast cancer.

According to safety information released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), cases of permanent alopecia have been reported as a possible adverse reaction to the cancer drug Taxotere.

Filing a Taxotere Chemotherapy Hair Loss Lawsuit

Permanent baldness (alopecia) is a disfiguring condition, especially for women. Women who experienced disfiguring permanent alopecia as a result of the use of Taxotere suffer great mental anguish as well as economic damages, including loss of work or inability to work due to significant psychological damage.

A Taxotere chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit may be an option for chemotherapy patients who took Taxotere and suffered permanent hair loss.  For more information, contact a specialized personal injury attorney today.

The Taxotere Chemotherapy Hair Loss Lawsuit is Case No. 16-cv-1861-AJB-KSC in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.