Docetaxel long term side effects include permanent hair loss, according to a complaint filed by a woman who was treated with the cancer drug in 2013.

Plaintiff Katherine B. received chemotherapy from January through April 2013, using docetaxel. She has experienced permanent hair loss since October 2013. She claims her docetaxel long term side effects have included hair loss that has yet to resolve.

Docetaxel is also known as Taxotere, a brand manufactured and marketed by Sanofi-Aventis.

Taxotere Boosted by False Claims of Superiority

Taxotere was approved by the FDA in May 1996 “for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer after failure of prior chemotherapy,” according to the drug’s label.

Sanofi-Aventis pushed for further FDA approval for other indications for docetaxel. The company shared evidence from its own clinical trials that purportedly showed Taxotere was superior over competing chemo products approved to combat breast cancer.

According to the complaint, Sanofi-Aventis claimed “superior efficacy” over lower potency taxane-based products such as paclitaxel (Taxol), Taxotere’s primary competition.

The complaint says that even though Taxotere is more potent and toxic, post-market studies show it is not more effective than other taxane chemotherapy medications. Moreover, Sanofi-Aventis allegedly concealed certain studies from the FDA, the medical community and patients because the studies refuted Taxotere’s superiority claims.

The August 2007 medical journal Cancer Treatment Review looked at clinical studies comparing the effectiveness among Taxane drugs. That analysis “concluded that no significant differences were found in the efficacy and outcomes obtained with Taxotere or Taxol.”

The FDA issued a warning letter to Sanofi-Aventis in 2009 telling the company to stop reprinting Taxotere’s unsubstantiated claims of superiority and to refrain from overstating the drug’s efficacy.

Docetaxel Long Term Side Effects Hidden for Years

Sanofi-Aventis “knew or should have known that the rate of permanent alopecia related to Taxotere was far greater than with other products available to treat the same condition,” says the docetaxel long term side effects complaint.

Most chemotherapy treatments result in temporary hair loss, but patients report Taxotere results in permanent, disfiguring alopecia (hair loss) in many cases.

This permanent hair loss affects not only the hair on the head, but all over the body as well. Eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair in the private regions all suffer from docetaxel long term side effects.

“Women who experienced disfiguring permanent alopecia as a result of the use of Taxotere suffer great mental anguish as well as economic damages, including, but not limited to, loss of work or inability to work due to significant psychological damage,” says the docetaxel long term side effects lawsuit.

The complaint goes on to say that the drug’s maker “engaged in a pattern of deception by overstating the benefits of Taxotere as compared to other alternatives while simultaneously failing to warn of the risk of disfiguring permanent alopecia.”

Taxotere’s higher probability of permanent hair loss was not disclosed to the U.S. medical community or the public by Sanofi-Aventis until December 2015.

The Docetaxel Long Term Side Effects Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-06404-KDE-MBN in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.