When women undergo chemotherapy for breast cancer, they expect to lose their hair temporarily. However, a more permanent form of hair loss from Taxotere, a popular chemotherapy drug, is also possible.

Over 750 complaints are currently pending against Sanofi-Aventis, the makers of the chemotherapy drug in question because of hair loss from Taxotere.

Some of the lawsuits also accuse Sanofi-Aventis of failing to disclose important information from a study that they themselves sponsored, the GEICAM 9805 study. The lawsuits claim that the GEICAM study showed evidence of permanent hair loss from Taxotere.

Those who have filed complaints have all noted similar problems: that Sanofi-Aventis did not warn both the medical community and patients of the possibility of permanent hair loss from Taxotere.

What is Taxotere?

Taxotere, known generically as docetaxel, is a chemotherapy drug that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration over twenty years ago. It is popularly used to treat breast cancer patients. It is a drug that works by preventing cells from reproducing. Because of this, cancer cells cannot multiply. Taxotere is in a drug class called taxanes which inhibit microtubules inside cancer cells. When the microtubules are inhibited, the cancer cell cannot replicate.

Permanent Hair Loss from Taxotere

Even with the success of Taxotere as a cancer-fighting drug, there have been serious reports of permanent, disfiguring hair loss from Taxotere by patients. Some patients believe this too great a cost and claim they would not have agreed to Taxotere treatment had they known of the possible permanent side effects. Taxotere, it has been shown in the GEICAM study, has caused permanent hair loss in up to 10% of users for 10 years or longer. This is far longer than the three to six months that is common for chemotherapy patients who use other chemotherapy drugs. A study published in the Annals of Oncology in 2012 studied 20 women and found that 19 of them suffered permanent hair loss from Taxotere including eyebrow and eyelash loss.

Taxotere Lawsuits

Federal Taxotere lawsuits are centralized under U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt in the Eastern District of Louisiana in a federal multidistrict litigation, or MDL.Judge Engelhardt approved the format of a Plaintiff Fact Sheet which will be filled out by all those who pursue a case. This Plaintiff Fact Sheet is designed to gather information from each plaintiff regarding details of their injuries, medical information and details about their use of Taxotere, the extent of hair loss, treatment that has been sought after, before and after pictures and information regarding lost wages and earning capacity. This came on the heels of the calling for a Master Complaint which needs to be filed by March 31. Hopefully, those who wish to file a complaint will be able to utilize a more streamlined Short Form Complaint. If you or someone you love has suffered from permanent hair loss from Taxotere, you may be entitled to legal compensation.