Sanofi Aventis is facing a growing number of claims alleging permanent alopecia hair loss from women who had undergone Taxotere chemotherapy treatment.

These allegations eventually spurred the formation of a multidistrict litigation (MDL), which consists of Taxotere lawsuits alleging the company’s chemotherapy drug caused alopecia hair loss.

Plaintiff Denise W. is one of the most recent claimants to participate in this litigation, filing her Taxotere lawsuit after discovering that Sanofi Aventis may have known about the alopecia hair loss risk for years.

European customers reportedly received a warning for permanent alopecia hair loss years before it was added to the Taxotere warning label in the United States, which has caused the company to face major scrutiny. Numerous women relied on Taxotere to treat their cancer so they can return to a normal life, and they say they had no reason to think their hair would fail to grow back after chemo.

Denise was one of these women. She says she discussed different treatment options with her oncologist and agreed to start Taxotere chemotherapy on May 9, 2013. The Taxotere warning label states that hair “generally grows back,” and did not mention potentially permanent alopecia hair loss.

With this in mind, Denise claims she had no reason to be wary of the possibility and continued her Taxotere treatment sessions until July 11, 2013.

According to the Taxotere lawsuit, Denise developed significant alopecia hair loss and has been unable to regrow her hair. Denise opted to file legal action against Sanofi Aventis after discovering other women also suffered alopecia hair loss after undergoing Taxotere treatment.

Overview of Taxotere Alopecia Hair Loss

Taxotere and other chemotherapy drugs work by targeting rapidly reproducing cells in the body, which often makes hair follicles one of the first groups to be targeted. While hair loss is a common side effect from chemotherapy treatment, permanent alopecia hair loss is rare and should be described on the drug’s warning label if patients have reported incidents.

However, a U.S. label change was not issued to Taxotere until December 2015, when the FDA ordered Sanofi Aventis to add that cases of permanent alopecia hair loss have been reported on the drug’s warning label.

Taxotere has been on the market since the mid 1990s and has become one of the most widely used chemotherapy drugs for breast cancer treatment.

Scientists began suspecting a correlation with permanent alopecia hair loss in the mid 2000s, when a study by Dr. Scot Sedlacek was published. He and his colleagues reportedly found that 6.3 percent of breast cancer patients grew back less than 50 percent of their hair if they were prescribed Taxotere.

Even though permanent alopecia hair loss can be devastating to patients, Sanofi Aventis allegedly failed to warn the general public. At all times relevant Denise and her physicians had relied on the marketing claims and product information provided by the company, and no reason to suspect otherwise.

Denise states she would not have used Taxotere, if she had been aware of the potential risk of permanent alopecia hair loss. Denise’s Taxotere lawsuit is joining MDL No. 2740, where it will be streamlined through the litigation process. Denise is seeking multiple damages in her Taxotere lawsuit, including negligence and failure to warn.

Her Taxotere lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-07984-JTM-MBN, in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana.