A Louisiana woman has claimed that false statements about Taxotere have led to her permanent hair loss and are the reason behind her lawsuit against Sanofi Aventis.

What is Taxotere?

Taxotere, known generically as docetaxel, has been on the market for 20 years and was approved by the FDA in 1996 as a chemotherapy treatment option.

Taxotere most often is used with women who have breast cancer.

However, Taxotere has also been used to treat lung cancer, prostate cancer, head cancer and neck cancer. It is administered under the strict supervision of a doctor and is delivered intravenously.

It wasn’t until December 2015 that the FDA asked the drug manufacturer to include, on Taxotere’s label, permanent hair loss as a possible side effect.

Women have been reporting hair loss with Taxotere that is more extreme than the hair loss experienced while taking other chemotherapy drugs.

After taking most other chemotherapy drugs, hair growth returns after awhile. But with Taxotere, many women reported that their hair did not grow back as it should have.

In fact, up to 10% of Taxotere users have experienced permanent hair loss. The risk of this happening increases when used in conjunction with other chemotherapy drugs.

Chemotherapy fights cancer because it fights the body’s fastest growing cells. Unfortunately, while attacking cancer cells, it also attacks healthy cells like the ones that produce hair.

False Statements About Taxotere

Plaintiff Sharon S. has filed a lawsuit against the makers of Taxotere, Sanofi Aventis, alleging that they put out false statements about Taxotere.

Sharon was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer in March 2013 and opted to move forward with a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This course of treatment ended in Sept. 2013.

In June of 2013, Sharon met with her oncologist to discuss options for treatment. It was decided that she would undergo Taxotere chemotherapy.

Neither Sharon nor her doctors were aware of the false statements about Taxotere regarding permanent hair loss.

It wasn’t until 2016 that Sharon suspected that she might be experiencing permanent hair loss as a result of Taxtore.

She believes that because drug maker, Sanofi Aventis, made alleged false statements about Taxotere, she has suffered from permanent disfiguring hair loss.

The plaintiff claims that Sanofi Aventis failed to disclose important information they discovered during a study in 2005 and then failed to adequately investigate, research and study the safety of Taxotere.

She says that under the alleged false statements about Taxotere, Sanofi Aventis did not advise the medical community nor patients of possible permanent hair loss and failed to include a boxed warning about the risks.

Sharon claims that the drug manufacturers knew about and ignored the connection between permanent alopecia and their drug, Taxotere.

She brings claims of design defect, inadequate warning, breach of express warranty, breach of warranty in redhibition and unfair trade and deceptive practices.

The Taxotere Lawsuit is Case No. 2:16-cv-15349, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.