Another cancer patient has filed a lawsuit over Sanofi’s Taxotere breast cancer treatment, alleging the drug caused permanent hair loss.

The Oklahoma plaintiff, Mary B., is just one of the many recent cancer patients who claim that being administered Taxotere during breast cancer treatment directly led to unexpected permanent hair loss.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2013. She began undergoing breast cancer treatment from January 2014 through April 2014. Her chemotherapy regiment included Taxotere during this time.

Although the plaintiff expected her hair to grow back after breast cancer treatment was over in April 2014, she found that her hair would not grow back at all.

Permanent hair loss, also known as alopecia, is a condition which many cancer patients are not prepared for, the lawsuit alleges, especially on top of the pain and trauma of cancer.

While it is common knowledge for cancer patients that breast cancer treatment can cause hair loss, these patients generally expect that after breast cancer treatment is over, their hair will be able to grow back.

Unfortunately, many cancer patients like Mary B. have discovered after breast cancer treatment with particular drugs is over that their hair will either not grow back or grows back with great difficulty.

The injured plaintiffs filed this permanent chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit on multiple counts, including but not limited to failure to warn, negligence, fraud, and punitive damages.

Background of Taxotere

Taxotere, which has the active ingredient docetaxel, is manufactured and sold by Sanofi Aventis. Taxotere is one of the most popular breast cancer treatment drugs, and was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996.

Since its introduction to the market, Taxotere has grown increasingly more popular across the country as a chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer.

Taxotere fights breast cancer by preventing cancer cells from growing, which prevents the cancer from its ability to quickly spread.

However, the same function that prevents the rapid growth of cancer cells may also prevent a patient’s hair from growing back after chemotherapy.

Breast Cancer Treatment Alopecia Lawsuits

According to this Taxotere breast cancer treatment lawsuit and others like it, Sanofi either knew or should have known that their chemotherapy drug Taxotere was linked with the risk of permanent chemotherapy hair loss.

However, the lawsuit alleges that the company not only failed to adequately warn about this risk, but even actively concealed this risk, instead promoting the drug as both safe and effective.

Lawsuits claim that Sanofi has been aware of reports and studies linking Taxotere to permanent hair loss after chemotherapy since as far back as its approval in 1996.

Taxotere lawsuits allege that, despite knowledge of their drug’s connection with permanent chemotherapy hair loss, Sanofi chose to conceal this information from patients and the wider medical community.

If you or someone you love has experienced permanent chemotherapy hair loss after breast cancer treatment, you may be able to gain some kind of compensation through a breast cancer drug lawsuit.

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

The Taxotere Breast Cancer Treatment Lawsuit is Case No. 16-cv-3077, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.