Although hair loss is a common chemotherapy side effect, patients do not generally expect that hair loss will be permanent.

Indeed, cancer patients usually expect that their hair will grow back after their chemotherapy treatment is over.

One such breast cancer patient, Michele S., was diagnosed in January 2014. She began her chemotherapy treatment with Taxotere expecting a measure of Taxotere hair loss risk.

However, after her chemotherapy treatment was over, she says her hair never grew back.

After she realized her hair was never going to grow back, Michele filed a Taxotere lawsuit against Sanofi-Aventis, the drug’s manufacturer.

This Taxotere lawsuit alleges that neither Michele nor her healthcare providers had been adequately informed about Taxotere hair loss risk, or that the resulting hair loss could be severe and permanent.

Michele filed this Taxotere lawsuit on a number of counts including failure to warn, negligence, and fraud.

Taxotere Background

Taxotere is a common chemotherapy treatment option manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis. It was approved as a breast cancer treatment drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) back in May 1996.

However, prior to this approval, Taxotere had actually been recommended for rejection by the FDA in 1994 due to its toxicity.

Sanofi-Aventis has marketed Taxotere as a safe, effective, and superior drug treatment when compared to other chemotherapy drugs. Because of these claims, thousands of patients have been exposed to Taxotere hair loss risk, according to the plaintiffs in several Taxotere lawsuits.

Permanent Taxotere Hair Loss Risk

Hair loss is a common side effect of Taxotere and other chemotherapy drugs. But many patients are not aware of, and therefore are not prepared for, the possibility of permanent Taxotere hair loss, also known as alopecia.

Taxotere fights breast cancer by preventing cancer cells from growing. However, the same function that prevents the rapid growth of cancer cells may also prevent a patient’s hair from growing back after chemotherapy.

In several Taxotere lawsuits, plaintiffs claim that Sanofi-Aventis has been aware of reports and studies linking Taxotere to permanent hair loss after chemotherapy since as far back as 1996, when the drug was first FDA-approved.

But plaintiffs allege that even though the company knew of their drug’s connection with permanent chemotherapy hair loss, Sanofi-Aventis chose to conceal this information from patients and the medical community.

Taxotere Lawsuits

If you or someone you love has experienced permanent hair loss from Taxotere, you may be able to seek compensation through a breast cancer drug lawsuit.

Filing a Taxotere lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering a cancer patient endures, but it can help compensate for the financial expenses incurred by medical bills or even lost wages.

Michele’s Taxotere Hair Loss Risk Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-00486-KDE-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.