Taxotere, a well-known chemotherapy drug most often prescribed as breast cancer treatment in women, has been alleged to cause a permanent hair loss condition in some patients known as alopecia.

Such is the case with plaintiff Shirley C., a former breast cancer patient, who is joining multidistrict litigation (MDL) No. 2740 by filing suit against Taxotere brand name defendants including the drug’s sponsors, manufacturers, and distributors.

This breast cancer treatment adverse effect lawsuit was filed on Aug. 29, 2017 in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana.

The plaintiff, Shirley C., is a resident of the State of South Carolina and alleges injury through her breast cancer treatment with an unknown form of Taxotere in the state of South Carolina between September and December of 2014.

The defendants in this case are Sanofi SA, Sanofi-Aventis U.S.A. LLC, Sanofi U.S. Services Inc. Aventis Pharma SA, Sandoz Inc, Accord Healthcare Inc, Hospira Worldwide, Hospira Inc. Sun Pharma Global FZE, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc., Pfizer Inc., Actavis LLC, and Actavis Pharma Inc.

The Allegations Against Makers of Breast Cancer Treatment Drug

Taxotere was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August of 2004 for breast cancer treatment. Although the relationship between permanent alopecia and Taxotere was likely already known, a new study was undertaken in 2005 called the GEICAM 9805.

According to the Taxotere MDL plaintiffs, results from this study were not released and no further investigation was undertaken domestically to the understand the risk-versus-benefit profile in relationship to Taxotere, breast cancer, and permanent hair loss.

According to the legal documentation of this MDL, the defendants warned European patients and medical community of the risk of permanent hair loss associated with Taxotere products in other countries, but failed to do so in the U.S.

Despite several label changes, nothing was added to the warning section of the drug’s label regarding this damaging side effect – no standard warning, no bolded warning, no boxed warning.

Plaintiff’s Allegations

In this breast cancer treatment permanent alopecia lawsuit, Shirley C. brings the following counts against this sizeable list of defendants: Count One – Strict Products Liability, Failure to Warn; Count Two – Strict Products Liability for Misrepresentation; Count Three – Negligence; Count Four – Negligent Misrepresentation; Count Five – Fraudulent Misrepresentation;  Count Six – Fraudulent Concealment; Count Seven – Fraud and Deceit; Count Eight – Breach of Express Warranty Pertaining to Sanofi Defendants Only.

Shirley C. is asking for a trial by jury, with a favorable judgement on her behalf after weighing all information as presented regarding her injuries, pain and suffering, and past, present, and future economic losses.

She asks for special damages, treble damages, all court costs, attorney’s fees, and expert witness fees to be returned to her and well as pre-judgement and post-judgement interest.

The Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-08450 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.