Sanofi Aventis is facing a growing multidistrict litigation (MDL) from Taxotere patients alleging serious breast cancer drug side effects.

One of the most recent claims comes from an Indiana woman, alleging she developed permanent hair loss from Taxotere but that the risk was not mentioned as one of the potential breast cancer drug side effects.

Plaintiff Deborah D. was prescribed Taxotere soon after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had agreed to the treatment regimen. Deborah came to this decision after discussing the decision with her oncologist, who was allegedly also not warned about Taxotere’s breast cancer drug side effects.

Deborah and her oncologist had reviewed Taxotere marketing materials, which stated hair “generally grows back” at some point after treatment. According to the Taxotere lawsuit, Deborah had only been prescribed Taxotere between October 2004 to November 2004 but had developed hair loss and thinning in May 2005.

At this point, Deborah has been unable to regrow her hair, and she recently discovered Taxotere was linked to permanent hair loss. Deborah opted to file legal action against Sanofi Aventis, alleging the company may have known about the breast cancer drug side effects for years.

Overview of Taxotere Hair Loss Allegations

Taxotere is a popular cancer treatment drug that was originally approved by the FDA in the mid 1990s for breast cancer treatment. Since its release, Taxotere has been approved to treat other cancers and has been prescribed to millions of patients.

It has been recently alleged permanent hair loss may be induced by the breast cancer drug side effects of Taxotere, with patients claiming the company did not warn them.

Taxotere and other chemotherapy drugs work by inhibiting the reproduction abilities of rapidly growing cells. This action is intended to destroy cancer cells. However, Taxotere also attacks other rapidly growing cells in the body, which makes hair follicles primary targets for the chemotherapy drugs.

Generally, hair loss is expected with breast cancer drug side effects, with patients also often experiencing nausea and fatigue. Patients can typically expect their hair to grow back after their chemotherapy treatment is over, and permanent alopecia not a regular concern.

This has not been the case with some Taxotere patients, however, who allege their hair loss is permanent and complain they were not warned about this possibility.

The FDA released a warning against potentially permanent Taxotere hair loss in December 2015, with the agency calling for a label change to state that cases of permanent alopecia have been reported. It has been alleged Sanofi Aventis knew about this correlation for years, with European health officials warning against permanent alopecia years prior to the United States.

Deborah and numerous other patients say the company either knew or should have known about the physical and emotional damages the breast cancer drug side effects could inflict. Deborah is filing her Taxotere lawsuit into MDL No. 2740, where it will stand alongside other claims alleging similar injuries.

Deborah states she never would have used Taxotere if she had known about its breast cancer drug side effects.

This Taxotere Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-12104-KDE-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.