Sanofi is facing a new lawsuit as part of the MDL against them, alleging that Taxotere, a breast cancer chemotherapy drug, can cause permanent hair loss.

Plaintiff Lisa H., and her husband Tony H., recently filed a breast cancer chemotherapy lawsuit against Sanofi US Services Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, alleging that the breast cancer chemotherapy drug causes permanent hair loss. The complaint is part of a multidistrict litigation centralized in a Louisiana District Court.

Lisa alleges she was treated with Taxotere from January 2009 to March 2009. She claims that the breast cancer chemotherapy drug caused permanent hair loss and irreversible thinning of hair.

Taxotere is a chemotherapy drug often used in the breast cancer chemotherapy treatment process, although it can be used to treat other cancers as well. Taxotere is part of the taxane drug family, a group of drugs derived from yew plants and commonly used as chemotherapy agents. The drug was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996.

Chemotherapy agents work to treat cancer by targeting fast-growing cells like cancer cells. However, they target fast growing cells indiscriminately and often affect hair follicles, the fastest growing healthy cells in the body.

Due to these cells’ rapid regeneration rate, chemotherapy patients often suffer from hair loss, although it is usually a temporary problem. This common side effect has earned baldness a close relationship with the cancer experience.

“According to the Mayo Clinic, hair can be expected to grow back after chemotherapy within three to six months. Dr. Ralph M. Trueb, the author of several articles related hair loss associated with chemotherapy, also states that hair regrowth following chemotherapy treatment will occur within three to six months after cessation of treatment,” the lawsuit states.

However, some cancer patients have experienced permanent hair loss from breast cancer chemotherapy treatment with Taxotere.

Lisa claims that Taxotere can cause permanent hair loss during the breast cancer chemotherapy process. Although hair usually grows back, Taxotere allegedly causes permanent hair loss. Lisa claims that permanent hair loss is a serious side effect that Sanofi did not warn of.

The lawsuit claims that permanent hair loss after breast cancer chemotherapy treatment can be seriously damaging to women and their self-esteem.

Healthy hair is widely accepted as a sign of beauty, causing many women with permanent hair loss to not think of themselves as beautiful. The complaint also argues that baldness is universally associated with cancer, meaning that women with permanent hair loss cannot escape the cancer stigma, even after their breast cancer chemotherapy treatment is over.

The lawsuit argues that the drug manufacturers failed to warn that permanent disfiguring alopecia is a possible side effect of treatment with Taxotere.

“The longer a drug sponsor delays updating its labeling so that it reflects current safety information, the more likely it is that medical professionals will continue to prescribe drugs without advising patients of harmful side effects, and the more likely it is that patients will suffer harmful side effects without the opportunity to evaluate risks for themselves,” the lawsuit states.

Lisa accuses Sanofi of strict products liability – failure to warn, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, fraud and deceit, loss of consortium and violations of state consumer protection laws.

The Taxotere Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-04471-KDE-MBN and is part of the Taxotere MDL, In re: Taxotere (docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 2:16-md-02740-KDE-MBN, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.