Patients who claim the breast cancer drug caused permanent hair loss move to centralize Taxotere side effects lawsuits.

Hundreds of patients who had previously filed lawsuits in New Jersey state courts claiming that Taxotere caused permanent hair loss have taken action to have their Taxotere side effects lawsuits centrally managed in a single court.

These claims allege that Taxotere’s manufacturers, including Sanofi-Aventis and other companies, failed to disclose to consumers and medical providers that Taxotere had a high risk of causing permanent hair loss.

This centralization of legal claims is similar to, but separate from, a previous multidistrict litigation against Taxotere created in the federal court system. This MDL consolidated even more claims that the drug’s manufacturer concealed the risk of permanent hair loss from its users and from medical professionals, warning only of temporary hair loss that is common with chemotherapy drugs.

According to legal representation for the allegedly impacted patients, “centralized management will conserve judicial resources and provide all parties with the benefits of coordinated discovery.”

This statement supports their move to consolidate under one management over 353 cases which have claims that share similar allegations of negligence and damage done to patients. Over three hundred of the Taxotere side effect lawsuits are still pending in Middlesex County.

Further arguing in favor for a consolidation of Taxotere side effects lawsuits, the cancer patients’ representation claims that “geographical diversity makes centralized management necessary for the efficient handling of this litigation.” Patients live in numerous states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Ohio.

The Taxotere side effects lawsuit claims that Taxotere’s manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventis willfully concealed information from breast cancer patients that the hair loss they experienced as a side effect of taking Taxotere could be permanent.

Hair loss was listed as a side effect for the drug. But until December 2015, nowhere in the drug information, either on the label or in accompanying literature, were patients warned that taking the drug could cause permanent hair loss.

The drug was on the market for years with no warning about the permanent hair loss side effect, patients claim.

Patients claim that Sanofi-Aventis falsely touted Taxotere as a safe and effective chemotherapy, advertising it as superior to alternatives. Patients in Taxotere side effects lawsuits claim that Taxotere “caused dangerous side effects as well as other severe and permanent health consequences in a much more and significant rate than other forms of treatment for cancer patients.”

The patients point to the fact that Taxotere was originally allegedly used only in cases when other drugs failed, and was not seen as a safe alternative to other drugs.

Patients are seeking compensation for damages including physical, emotional, and financial injury. Damages include the physical impact of experiencing permanent hair loss, the emotional pain and stress of losing one’s hair, and the financial injury patients incurred as they tried to remedy or compensate for their hair loss.

Patients claim that they would not have agreed to take Taxotere, and that their physicians would not have prescribed them the drug, had they known that the drug could cause permanent hair loss.