A plaintiff has filed a lawsuit in an Illinois federal court alleging that Sanofi-Aventis, manufacturer of the breast cancer chemotherapy drug Taxotere, misled consumers and the medical community as to the drug’s safety and efficacy.

Plaintiff Renita J. claims she was prescribed the drug Taxotere by her physician to treat her cancer following a lumpectomy that removed a cancerous breast lump.

The Taxotere was primarily used to decrease the chance that Renita’s breast cancer would recur. She underwent treatment with Taxotere from December 2011 through February 2012.

Chemotherapy Hair Loss Allegations

Following her breast cancer chemotherapy treatment with Taxotere, Renita suffered from, and continues to suffer from, permanent chemotherapy hair loss (also known as alopecia) as a result of the treatment.

Women are well aware that breast cancer chemotherapy treatment leads to chemotherapy hair loss. However, women believe this chemotherapy hair loss to be temporary and expect that their hair will grow back soon after the chemotherapy treatment is stopped.

With Taxotere, however, in some cases, a woman’s hair never grows back, and the hair loss is permanent. This can cause severe mental anguish in women as well as potential economic damages due to inability to work as a result of significant psychological damage, according to Renita’s lawsuit.

Renita alleges that there were other breast cancer treatments available on the markets that were as effective as Taxotere but did not carry the risk of permanent chemotherapy hair loss. Renita says she was not presented with a chance to make an informed choice as to whether the benefits of Taxotere outweighed its associated risks.

Renita’s lawsuit states, “Defendants engaged in a pattern of deception by overstating the benefits of Taxotere as compared to other alternatives while simultaneously failing to warn of the risk of permanent alopecia.”

According to the Taxotere lawsuit, the FDA sent a warning letter to the drug’s manufacturer in 2003 ejecting to direct-to-consumer print advertising of the drug, finding the advertisements misleading.

A study was conducted in 2008 looking at a comparison of the efficacy of Taxotere and another chemotherapy drug Taxol in treating breast cancer. The study found that Taxotere was less effective than the other drug, according to the claim.

In 2009, following the study, Taxotere’s manufacturer again received another warning letter detailing it had “unsubstantiated superiority claims and overstatements of efficacy.”

The lawsuit claims that as a direct result of the manufacturer’s actions, Renita “suffered serious injury, harm, mental anguish, damages, economic and non-economic loss and will continue to suffer such harm, damages and losses in the future.”

Renita brings forth several counts against Sanofi-Aventis including strict liability for inadequate warnings and instructions, negligence, fraud and punitive damages.

As compensation for her alleged damages, the plaintiff is seeking an award of compensatory damages in excess of $75,000, punitive or exemplary damages in excess of $75,000, attorneys’ fees and costs, pre-judgment interest, restitution, disgorgement of profits, and other equitable relief and any other relief deemed proper by the Court.

The Taxotere Chemotherapy Hair Loss Lawsuit is Case No. 1:16-CV-06754, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.