A Virginia cancer patient recently filed a new lawsuit against the drug manufacturer Sanofi, claiming its chemotherapy medication directly caused her Taxotere alopecia, or permanent hair loss.

If you have suffered from Taxotere alopecia after being treated with the popular chemotherapy option, you may be able to file a lawsuit.

Treatment with Taxotere

The plaintiff, Daisy W., began chemotherapy treatment with Taxotere on July 10, 2008, and continued this treatment for just over two months, until Sept. 25. It didn’t take long before Daisy began to lose her hair—as cancer patients generally expect will occur while undergoing their chemotherapy regimen. However, what Daisy did not expect was that the Taxotere alopecia would not let up after her treatment with the drug was over.

After her chemotherapy was completed,  Daisy says she was left with patchy permanent hair loss, with bald spots all over her head. It has been nearly a decade since she stopped her treatment with Taxotere, but these bald spots persist to this day.

After realizing that her hair would not grow completely back, Daisy decided to file a lawsuit against Sanofi, manufacturers of the drug. The Taxotere alopecia lawsuit was filed on September 26 on multiple counts, including failure to warn, misrepresentation, fraud and deceit, breach of express warranty, and others.

Background of Taxotere

Taxotere (also known as docetaxel, its generic name) is manufactured and sold by Sanofi Aventis. Taxotere is one of the most popular breast cancer treatment drugs; it is also used for other cancer treatment, including lung cancer. Taxotere was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) back in 1996.

In order to stop cancer cells from spreading so quickly, Taxotere’s goal is to prevent them 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 Taxotere permanent hair loss problems.

Hair loss problems are an expected part of chemotherapy treatment, but patients also generally expect that their hair will grow back after treatment is over. Unfortunately, many cancer patients have discovered after therapy with certain chemotherapy drugs, including Taxotere, that their hair will either not grow back or grows back with great difficulty.

Filing a Taxotere Alopecia Lawsuit

After experiencing Taxotere permanent hair loss, also known as alopecia, a growing number of cancer patients like Daisy are filing lawsuits against drug manufacturers. According to this Taxotere alopecia lawsuit and others like it, Sanofi either knew or should have known that their drug was linked with the risk of permanent hair loss, or Taxotere alopecia.

If you or someone you love has suffered from serious side effects such as Taxotere alopecia after cancer treatment, you may be able to gain some kind of financial compensation by filing a Taxotere permanent hair loss lawsuit. While filing a Taxotere alopecia lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering a cancer patient endures, or take away the effects of alopecia, it can help compensate for the financial expenses incurred by cancer treatment bills or even lost wages.

The Taxotere Alopecia Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-09625-KDE-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.