A new Taxotere permanent hair loss lawsuit joins hundreds of similarly filed complaints alleging the chemotherapy treatment causes serious medical problems, including permanent and disfiguring alopecia.

Plaintiff Maryann K. of Maine was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2010. Following the diagnosis, she underwent chemotherapy, which included Taxotere, from approximately October 2010 to February 2011.

Maryann alleges that after undergoing chemotherapy with Taxotere, she suffered from permanent alopecia caused by the drug.

According to her Taxotere permanent hair loss lawsuit, Maryann nor her healthcare providers were aware of or informed by Sanofi-Aventis (the maker of Taxotere) that permanent alopecia could occur as a result of treatment with Taxotere.

While chemotherapy side effects often include hair loss, it is often temporary. The Taxotere permanent hair loss lawsuit claims that the drug maker knew or should have known that Taxotere caused unreasonably dangerous Taxotere side effects, but instead continued to market the chemotherapy drug to consumers.

Maryann is filing this Taxotere permanent hair loss lawsuit seeking judgment against Sanofi-Aventis for her injuries including punitive damages for the drug company’s alleged disregard in recklessly promoting Taxotere despite knowing patients could suffer from permanent hair loss or alopecia.

Permanent Taxotere Hair Loss Side Effects Withheld from Cancer Patients

Taxotere, manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis and sold in the U.S. since 1999, is used to treat patients with advanced or metastasized breast cancer, along with other forms of cancer.

Most chemotherapy drugs are known to cause temporary hair loss, with hair growing back soon after treatment ends. Unfortunately, that has not been the case with Taxotere users diagnosed with alopecia universalis, a condition characterized by a loss of all body hair that might never return.

In 2015, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated its Safety Information page to include the reporting of instances of permanent hair loss involving Taxotere.

However, patients have claimed that Sanofi-Aventis warned patients outside of the U.S. about Taxotere hair loss side effects much earlier.

Several breast cancer patients have file Taxotere permanent hair loss lawsuits similar to Maryann’s, alleging that Sanofi-Aventis had warned doctors and patients in Europe as early as 2005 and Canada in 2012 about the risk of permanent hair loss from Taxotere chemotherapy side effects.

However, the drug maker allegedly withheld the relationship between Taxotere side effects and permanent, disfiguring hair loss from the U.S. market until a month after the FDA’s information update to warn Americans.

Furthermore, in 2010, Canada’s Globe and Mail reported that women had begun attempting to contact Sanofi-Aventis about why it hadn’t disclosed Taxotere’s risk of causing permanent hair loss.

Filing a Taxotere Permanent Hair Loss Lawsuit

If you or a loved one have been treated with Taxotere for breast cancer, and have experienced permanent hair loss, you might have cause to sue the manufacturer for compensation for your pain and suffering.

Attorneys are currently evaluating lawsuit claims on behalf of cancer patients who have been harmed by Taxotere side effects. To learn more about your legal options, contact an experienced Taxotere attorney for a free consultation.

Maryann’s Taxotere Permanent Hair Loss Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-00484-KDE-MBN and is filed within the larger Taxotere MDL In Re: Taxotere (Docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2740, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.