The prescription of the drug Taxotere (docetaxel) used by women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, are facing a chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit.

Sanofi S.A. and Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC. face the current Taxotere lawsuit alleging that the drug is responsible for permanent hair loss after breast cancer chemotherapy.

Plaintiff Valerie L., a California resident, was prescribed the use of the Taxotere that was manufactured and distributed by the prescription manufacturer.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 and had consulted with an oncologist for her options in undergoing chemotherapy.

According to the chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit, however, she and her oncologist were completely unaware of any side effects that may come about from her use of Taxotere.

She and the public were deceived into believing that the prescription medication and its use in chemotherapy would allow hair to grow, as is the case with other prescription medications, the chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit explains.

What occurred, however, was the result of permanent hair loss, a consequence that she did not expect.

Alopecia is hair loss that is a common side effect of chemotherapy drugs, but in this case, a “disfiguring permanent alopecia” occurred as a result.

According to the chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit, the consequences of the use of the medication should have been made known.

The prescription manufacturer is alleged to have concealed information about the drug from patients, physicians, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

There is also a rate of permanent hair loss related to the use of docetaxel in its use of chemotherapy, according to the chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit.

The plaintiff argues that a woman might accept “the possibility of permanent baldness because of the use of docetaxel if no other product were available to treat their cancer, [but] this was not the case.”  Five other drugs on the market were just as effective as Taxotere, according to the chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit.

The prescription manufacturer should have made known that there was a far greater likelihood for permanent hair loss to occur than that with other chemotherapy medications, the chemotherapy hair loss lawsuit explains.

Valerie had started chemotherapy with Taxotere from January 2005 through February 2005.

The drug is part of a common drug family known as Taxanes. Taxanes are produced by a genus plant by the name of Taxus, which is used as a chemotherapy agent.

According to the Taxotere lawsuit, the prescription medication had undergone an initial request for FDA approval in December of 1994. During that time, however, FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee, unanimously rejected of that approval request.”

They state that they rejected the approval “because docetaxel (taxotere) was more toxic than its competing drug Taxol, which had already received FDA approval, and because more studies of docetaxel’s side effects were needed.”

Taxotere was nevertheless approved on May 14, 1996.

The damage amount alleged in the Taxotere lawsuit is more than $75,000.

Valerie is represented by Russell T. Abney and Hunter V. Linville of the Ferrer Poiot Wansbrough.

The Chemotherapy Hair Loss Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-02948, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.