Between 3% and 8% of women who received chemotherapy drug Taxotere to battle breast cancer have been left with permanent hair loss. This is also called Taxotere alopecia.

The drug’s manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventis, is accused of knowing of the possibility of permanent hair loss, but did not include the warning on its packaging.

Women often opted for the Taxotere treatment because only four treatments were required; other chemotherapy options included 12 treatments.

However, some women say they would have opted for more treatments and a greater chance of their hair returning to its original luster.

Chemotherapy Hair Loss

Cancer survivors know that hair loss is a side effect of chemotherapy treatments. Most of the time, though, hair grows back three months after the final treatment.

Women fighting breast cancer bravely endure the side effects of chemotherapy, but it is emotionally devastating that after the cancer is gone, so is all of their hair.

Bound not only by their fight against cancer, but by their permanent baldness, a group of women from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and France call themselves the Taxotears.

They say it is devastating to look in the mirror every day and not feel like they have been able to return to their normal appearance.

Some women say Taxotere has left them with “peach fuzz” on their heads instead of real hair. Some have not a single hair on their bodies including hair loss of eyebrows and eyelashes.

Emotional Toll of Taxotere Side Effects

When most people go to work or to a store, they make sure we have on appropriate attire, brush their hair and feel inconspicuous as they go about their daily duties. For women with alopecia, even a trip to the grocery store can be agonizing as people stare at the lack of eyelashes and eyebrows.

One woman told of going shopping on a windy day and experiencing her wig flying off in the wind. She was so embarrassed that she left the wig on the ground in the parking lot, drove home and didn’t leave her house for three days.

Another woman tells of her dating life suffering because of her hairless condition. She wonders how different her prospects would be if her hair had grown back as promised.

Taxotere Response Less Than Compassionate

Laurent-Didier Jacobs, vice-president of medical affairs for Sanofi-Aventis Canada, says, “We fully understand that persistent alopecia may be a burden for patients, but still we consider it’s certainly something which is not life-threatening or is not something which impairs the likelihood of survival.”

“Taking into account the benefit brought by this type of therapy, we think things should be put in perspective,” Dr. Jacobs says.

Pamela K., 58, of McAlester, Okla., was treated for breast cancer with Taxotere in 2007 and was not given other treatment options.

“They absolutely told me my hair will grow back,” Pamela said. “I will never be well of breast cancer because of this. My life is not over, but my life is drastically changed.”

Life-Altering Side Effects

Breast cancer survivors who endured the disease and Taxotere treatments should not have to continue to suffer side effects such as permanent hair loss.

For those who have suffered from alopecia as a result of Taxotere, a class action lawsuit could help with pain and suffering and could let the manufacturer know this side effect is not something to be taken lightly.