Sanofi Aventis is facing a new Taxotere lawsuit, from a Louisiana woman alleging she suffered permanent hair loss due the chemotherapy drug.

The claimant went onto say that due to the company’s alleged Taxotere fraud, the risks of the drug were not properly disclosed and she suffered permanent irreparable damage as result.

Plaintiff Mary W. is filing her Taxotere lawsuit in the growing multidistrict litigation (MDL), in which her claim will stand beside other lawsuits alleging Taxotere fraud.

Mary and other women allege Sanofi Aventis had known the risk of permanent alopecia, or permanent hair loss, years before the December 2015 FDA announcement.

According to her Taxotere lawsuit, Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer in the fall of 2013. After discussing different treatment options with her oncologist, Mary began Taxotere chemotherapy soon after her diagnosis.

Mary had undergone eight months of Taxotere chemotherapy treatment beginning in November 2013, during which time she had lost her hair.

Mary alleges she did not learn that her hair loss may be permanent until September 2016, leading her to file this Taxotere fraud lawsuit.

Overview of Taxotere Hair Loss Allegations

Taxotere was approved by the FDA in the mid 1990s to treat adult patients with breast cancer. Since its release, Taxotere has been approved to treat other forms of cancer and has helped treat thousands of patients.

However, Sanofi Aventis has been accused of Taxotere fraud by numerous women alleging the company deliberately concealed the risk of alopecia.

Similar to other chemotherapy treatments, Taxotere works by attacking rapidly reproducing cells to ultimately eliminate the cancer cells. Hair follicles are one of the first targets chemotherapy drugs attack, often resulting in severe hair loss or total baldness.

Oftentimes hair loss is expected in chemotherapy treatment, but patients can normally expect their hair to grow back at some point after the treatment regime.

Patients have alleged they developed permanent hair loss after using Taxotere, and that the manufacturing company knew the risk.

The Taxotere fraud stems from the fact that the European warning label had included permanent hair loss years before the United States.

The FDA eventually required the company to update the drug’s warning label in December 2015, after receiving numerous complaints of Taxotere permanent hair loss.

Mary alleges the company’s Taxotere fraud caused her to suffer permanent hair loss, and that she never would have used the drug if she had known the risk.

Mary is filing her Taxotere lawsuit seeking multiple damages, including negligence and failure to warn.

The Taxotere Fraud Lawsuit is Case No. 3:16-cv-00682, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.