A Michigan breast cancer patient has joined a growing multi-district litigation that claims Taxotere hair loss is permanent. Patients are claiming that a series of related chemotherapy drugs made by Sanofi-Aventis and associated companies cause permanent hair loss, but are advertised to only cause temporary hair loss.

Plaintiff Susan L. claims that she used a chemotherapy drug made by Sanofi-Aventis between July 30, 2014, and Nov. 12, 2014. She claims that because of her use of the drug, she suffered persistent hair loss and diffuse thinning of her hair. Allegedly, she did not suffer from hair loss before taking the drug.

Susan claims that she was warned that the drug could cause temporary hair loss, a side-effect common with many chemotherapy drugs, but was not warned that Taxotere hair loss could be permanent. She claims that she suffered physical injury due to the loss of her hair, caused by the drug.

Susan L.’s Taxotere hair loss lawsuit claims that the injury Susan suffered was not just physical. She claims that she also incurred emotional injury due to the stigma associated with hair loss, and having a permanent reminder that she was a victim of cancer.

Additionally, she claims that she was financially injured because she spent money and time trying to reverse her hair loss and spent money trying to cover up her hair loss. She claims that she would not have agreed to take the drug had she known that it could cause permanent hair loss.

The Taxotere hair loss lawsuit claims that Sanofi-Aventis and associated companies, manufacturers of the drug, knew or should have known that the drugs could cause permanent hair loss, but intentionally concealed this information from patients, medical professionals, and the Food and Drug Administration.

Susan brings claims of negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, fraud and deceit, and strict products liability — failure to warn against Sanofi-Aventis. She also claims that the companies violated Michigan law prohibiting consumer fraud and unfair and deceptive trade practices. As part of the Taxotere hair loss multi-district litigation, Susan and other similarly affected consumers seek damages from the companies.

Sanofi-Aventis makes a range of related chemotherapy drugs that are claimed to cause permanent hair loss. These drugs include Taxotere, Docefrez, Docetaxel Injection, Docetaxel Injection Concentrate, and others. Allegedly, these drugs were developed as more potent alternatives to existing chemotherapy drugs and initially were seen as an option for patients that had not responded to other chemotherapy treatment.

Patients claim that the manufactures did not sufficiently research the impact of making the drug more potent, exposing the patient to injury. Allegedly, the drugs were on the market for over a decade with no mention that they could cause permanent hair loss, and it was not until December 2015 that the drugs included a warning of possible permanent hair loss, per an FDA requirement.

The Permanent Taxotere Hair Loss Multi-District Litigation is Case No. 2:16-md-02740-KDE-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.