A citizen and resident of the State of Minnesota filed a new lawsuit in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana against the developers and manufacturers of Taxotere on March 19, 2018.

In her lawsuit naming Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC and Sanofi U.S. Services Inc. as defendants, plaintiff Joan S. alleges permanent injury from the side effects of Taxotere, a chemotherapy drug used to treat breast cancer.

Among the personal side effects of Taxotere, Joan lists permanent alopecia—or hair loss. She alleges that as a direct consequence of being treated with this drug, she was disfigured for life by the inability to regrow her hair.

Fast-growing cells like those that produce hair, fingernails and toenails are often affected by chemotherapy in the short-run. But the plaintiff says she had the full expectation upon beginning her medical care for breast cancer that her hair would return.

Joan claims that the permanent alopecia side effects of Taxotere have led to severe mental anguish and emotional distress that has required lots of professional psychological intervention.

Additionally, she claims that these side effects of Taxotere have interfered with her earning capacity and cost her a considerable amount of money in medical expenses. She believes that financial and non-financial costs of the alopecia will be with her for life and has affected the quality of her life in a profound way.

According to the short-form legal complaint, the plaintiff was administered Taxotere for breast cancer treatment in the State of Minnesota in 2009 and has experienced the permanent alopecia side effects of Taxotere since that time.

Joan brings the following causes of action from the long-form Taxotere products liability litigation:

Count One: Strict Products Liability—Failure to Warn; Count Three: Negligence; Count Four: Negligent Misrepresentation; Count Five: Fraudulent Misrepresentation; Count Six: Fraudulent Concealment; and Count Seven: Fraud and Deceit.

The plaintiff is asking for a trial by jury with a favorable decision on her behalf based upon evidence presented. She is asking for special and treble damages with consideration for her attorney, court, and miscellaneous costs of litigation.

Joan is also asking for pre-judgment and post-judgment interest to be included in the compensation for her injuries.

The History and Alleged Side Effects of Taxotere

According to Joan, in the early 1990s the defendants sponsored a study known as GEICAM 9805 in which 9.2% of patients being treated with Taxotere experienced a failure to regrow hair or had ongoing hair loss for up to a decade afterwards.

This statistical data was purportedly withheld from the government, physicians, and other medical professionals, and patients. Sanofi sought approval for Taxotere from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 14, 1996.

Once approved, the Sanofi company allegedly sought to set Taxotere apart from its primary drug competitor, Taxol, by claiming superior efficacy in its advertising and promotions. This advertising earned them a warning by the FDA in 2009, according to Joan and other plaintiffs like her.

In addition to Joan, multiple former patients have come forward and indicated that the defendants’ advertising methods led them to choose their product over the less toxic and milder Taxol.  These patients claim that the Sanofi knew or should have known about the alopecia and should have given them a better warning.

This Taxotere Lawsuit is Case No.  2:18-cv-02938-KDE-MBN in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana.