A woman has filed a lawsuit against the makers of a popular chemotherapy drug alleging the manufacturers provided misleading statements about Taxotere which ultimately led to her personal injury.

Plaintiff Beverly S. is a California resident who received Taxotere as part of her treatment regimen to address her breast cancer.

She was diagnosed with stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma in her left breast in October 2006.

Following her Taxotere chemotherapy treatment, she experienced permanent alopecia, a hair loss condition where her hair will no longer grow back.

While patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment realize that they will lose their hair, they assume that this situation is temporary and that their hair will grow back shortly after their chemotherapy has stopped.

However, this was not the case for Beverly, as her hair loss was not temporary, and the permanent nature of her condition caused additional emotional and financial hardship.

Sanofi Aventis’ Alleged Misleading Statements About Taxotere

Taxotere is used to treat a variety of cancers, but is most commonly known for its treatment of breast cancer.

Beverly’s lawsuit contains multiple allegations surrounding the manufacturers’ allegedly misleading statements about Taxotere chemotherapy treatment.

Her lawsuit alleges that the drugmaker made the following misleading statements about Taxotere:

• Taxotere has been used as a first-line chemotherapy treatment despite its product labeling after FDA approval in 1996 saying Taxotere was “indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer after failure of prior chemotherapy.”
• The makers of Taxotere claim superiority over other breast cancer chemotherapy treatments such as paclitaxel despite post-market surveillance studies demonstrating otherwise.
  • “As a result of these false and misleading statements, in 2009, the FDA issued a warning letter to Sanofi Aventis… citing these unsubstantiated claims of superiority over paclitaxel.”
• The makers of Taxotere misled Beverly, the public and medical professionals to believe that the hair loss experienced by Taxotere patients would not be permanent, and it would grow back.
  • “In 2005, Sanofi S.A. and Aventis Pharma S.A. knew that the GEICAM 9805 study demonstrated that 9.2% of patients who took Taxotere had persistent alopecia, or hair loss, for up to 10 years and five months, and in some cases longer after taking Taxotere.”

In addition to the misleading statements about Taxotere as listed above, Beverly’s lawsuit states that the manufacturers of the chemotherapy drug failed to provide adequate warnings to patients and the medical community and failed to provide a boxed warning on the Taxotere product.

The lawsuit also states a qui tam lawsuit was filed by a former employee of Sanofi Aventis accusing the company of engaging in fraudulent marketing, paying kickbacks to physicians, and providing other unlawful incentives to entice physicians to treat patients with Taxotere.

Beverly raises claims of negligence, design and manufacturing defects, failure to warn breach of implied warranty, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and deceit, and extreme and outrageous conduct/intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Beverly is seeking judgment against the defendants in an amount to be determined at trial. She is seeking special damages, treble damages, costs, expert witness fees, attorneys’ fees, filing fees, pre- and post-judgment interest, all other injuries and damages and additional relief deemed appropriate by the Court.

The Taxotere Lawsuit is Case No. 2:16-cv-7486, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.