A Taxotere lawsuit recently filed in Mississippi federal court accuses drug maker Sanofi-Aventis of concealing the risk of permanent Taxotere hair loss in breast cancer patients.

In July 2006, Plaintiff Florine C. was diagnosed with left breast cancer with lymph node involvement.  Following her diagnosis, she underwent a chemotherapy regimen that included Taxotere – a prescription medication commonly administered for the treatment of breast cancer.

Florine claims that neither her or her treating physicians were aware of Taxotere hair loss side effects. It wasn’t until 2016 that Florine suspected or became aware of that she was suffering from continuing Taxotere hair loss as a result of her breast cancer chemotherapy.

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

What is Taxotere?

Manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis, Taxotere is given through injection as an anti-cancer chemotherapy drug that also goes by the generic name Docetaxel.

Taxotere is categorized as a “plant alkaloid” and was approved by the FDA in 2006 for treatment of breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, advanced stomach cancer, head and neck cancer, and metastatic prostate cancer.

The chemotherapy drug is also being studied to treat small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, bladder and pancreatic cancer, soft tissue sarcoma and melanoma.

Taxotere Hair Loss and Other Taxotere Side Effects

Taxotere is associated with side effects common for chemotherapy drugs, including mouth sores, nausea, excessive fatigue, muscle or bone pain, and low platelet count.

Other known Taxotere side effects include the following:

• Weakness
• Light-headed feeling
• Nausea
• Fever and chills
• Swelling of the ankles and feet
• Redness, swelling, and irritation at the injection site

Additionally, while temporary hair loss may be a possible side effect of chemotherapy, complete and permanent hair loss has been linked to Taxotere side effects. In 2010, Sanofi-Aventis removed language from its label that “hair generally grows back.”

This Taxotere hair loss issue was supported by two studies. One study, published in 2012 in the Annals of Oncology, involved 20 women who had breast cancer chemotherapy and had taken Taxotere. Researchers found that no hair growth after chemo was noted.

The research, conducted between 2007 and 2011, even involved regrowth treatments including vitamins and ultraviolet A therapy, but still no hair growth after chemo was observed.

Another study, published in the 2011 American Journal of Dermatopathology found that “there is increased evidence that certain chemotherapy regimens can cause dose-dependent permanent alopecia,” including Taxotere.

In December 2015, the FDA recommended and Sanofi-Aventis added in the Adverse Reactions section of the Taxotere label that: “Cases of permanent hair loss have been reported.”

Help for Taxotere Chemotherapy Victims

Permanent baldness or alopecia is a disfiguring condition, especially for women.  Women who experience disfiguring permanent Taxotere hair loss suffer great mental anguish as well as economic damages.

Many patients were reportedly told that Taxotere side effects may cause them to only experience temporary chemotherapy hair loss. However, some recent reports have found that the chemotherapy hair loss experienced may actually be permanent.

While it is a common side effect for cancer patients to lose body hair during treatment, warnings of permanent chemotherapy hair loss were not added to the Taxotere label until December 2015, much too late for many women who not already had to suffer through cancer treatment, but now permanent Taxotere hair loss as well.

Women who were given Taxotere and experienced permanent hair loss may be eligible to receive substantial compensation for the emotional pain and suffering caused by Taxotere side effects by filing a Taxotere lawsuit.

The Taxotere Chemotherapy Lawsuit is Case No. 3:16-cv-00404 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Jackson Division.