The chemotherapy drug Taxotere, often used to treat breast cancer, has been linked with lasting or permanent breast cancer hair loss.

A growing number of cancer patients affected by breast cancer hair loss are finding that, even after treatment is over, they cannot grow their hair back in properly. Though it is not physically harmful, it can have serious psychological effects.

This lasting side effect is just one more thing that cancer patients are forced to endure. Some have turned to litigation, alleging that they were not adequately warned about this risk.

A recent plaintiff, Rose C. of Illinois, filed a new lawsuit against manufacturer Sanofi over her lasting breast cancer hair loss. According to the lawsuit, Rose began her chemotherapy treatment with Taxotere in February 2014 and continued this usage for several weeks, through April 2014.

While Rose, like most cancer patients, went into chemotherapy expecting that she would likely lose her hair in the process, she did not know that after treatment was over she ran a substantial risk of facing permanent breast cancer hair loss.

Indeed, several years have passed between the end of Rose’s Taxotere chemotherapy treatment and her current lawsuit, but her breast cancer hair loss persists. Her lawsuit also alleges that the hair loss, also known as alopecia, has brought with it “mental anguish” and “severe and debilitating emotional distress.”

While breast cancer hair loss is obviously a well-known side effect of chemotherapy, many like Rose are not adequately warned about the risk of permanent hair loss linked with drugs like Taxotere.

After years of persistent breast cancer hair loss, Rose decided to file a breast cancer hair loss lawsuit against Sanofi for failing to adequately warn her about Taxotere’s permanent hair loss risks, including its lasting nature.

Rose filed her permanent breast cancer hair loss lawsuit on Oct. 24, 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The breast cancer hair loss lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including failure to warn, negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment, fraud and deceit, and others.

Background of Taxotere

Taxotere (also known by its generic name, docetaxel) is manufactured and sold by Sanofi, and was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) back in 1996. In the following two decades, Taxotere became one of the most popular breast cancer treatment medications.

Taxotere fights 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, causing serious and even permanent breast cancer hair loss problems.

Hair loss is an expected part of chemotherapy treatment, but patients also generally expect that their hair will grow back after treatment is finished.

Unfortunately, many cancer patients have discovered after treatment with certain chemotherapy drugs, including Taxotere, their hair will either not grow back or grows back with great difficulty.

Filing a Taxotere Permanent Breast Cancer Hair Loss Lawsuit

If you or someone you love has suffered from serious side effects of Taxotere including alopecia, or permanent breast cancer hair loss, you may be able to gain some kind of financial compensation by filing a breast cancer hair loss lawsuit.

Filing a permanent breast cancer hair loss lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering a cancer patient endures, or take away the effects of alopecia, but it can help compensate for the financial expenses incurred by cancer treatment bills or even lost wages.

The Breast Cancer Hair Loss Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-11094-KDE-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.