Plaintiff Lelar P. has filed a lawsuit in Louisiana federal court against the makers of Taxotere, a chemotherapy drug used in the treatment of breast cancer.

According to the Taxotere breast cancer treatment lawsuit, Lelar is filing the lawsuit against Sanofi S.A.

Lelar is a current resident of the state of Mississippi. She had first started to use Taxotere in January 2015, and stopped using the medication in May 2015.

She has filed the Taxotere breast cancer treatment lawsuit due to her “permanent/persistent hair loss and diffuse thinning of hair.”

She files the following counts against the defendant. These include 1) Strict Products Liability- Failure to Warn; 2) Strict Products Liability for Misrepresentation; 3) Negligence; 4) Negligent Misrepresentation; 5) Fraudulent Misrepresentation; 6) Fraudulent Concealment; 7) Fraud and Deceit; and 8) Breach of Express Warranty.

The Taxotere breast cancer treatment lawsuit also raises claims for “Violations of Applicable Louisiana Law Prohibiting Consumer Fraud and Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices” and for breach of warranty in redhibition.

Lelar’s claim is filed as part of a large multidistrict litigation, or MDL, centered on allegations that the use of Taxotere as a chemotherapy drug causes disfiguring permanent alopecia beginning sometime after treatment.

Taxotere Breast Cancer Treatment Lawsuit Facts

Taxotere lawsuits are usually filed by women who suffer permanent hair loss, also known as alopecia. These allegations have been scientifically studied in reports researching the links between the use of Taxotere and the development of permanent hair loss.

Most patients, before and during chemotherapy, understand that hair loss is a common side effect to chemotherapy. However, they usually presume that their hair will eventually grow back. But patients taking Taxotere may suffer from irreversible, permanent hair loss. They claim that this side effect and warning was not at all made to them.

Taxotere is prescribed to treat certain cancers, including stomach, prostate, and breast cancer. The medication is designed to prevent cancer cells from multiplying within the patient’s body.

A clinical study was published in the Annals of Oncology in 2012. The study looked into 20 female patients using Taxotere for treatment of their breast cancer.

The researchers found was that these women developed signs of permanent alopecia. They suffered from hair loss within two weeks of taking Taxotere and the lack of hair growth within four to six months of using Taxotere for their treatment of breast cancer.

The researchers of the study concluded that there is a “severe and permanent” loss of hair and it is a side effect of the FEC-docetaxel regimen.

The Taxotere Breast Cancer Treatment Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-10466-KDE-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The Taxotere Lawsuit MDL is In re: Taxotere (Docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No 2740, also in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.