A woman has filed a Taxotere lawsuit, alleging her permanent hair loss has left her disfigured and suffering.

When plaintiff Hattie G. was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2009, her doctor performed a lumpectomy of her left breast, according to her recently filed Taxotere lawsuit.

When Hattie met with her oncologist, they both agreed that treatment with the chemotherapy drug Taxoterewould be the next step to take to combat the cancer.

Neither Hattie nor her doctor knew of the likelihood of permanent hair loss as a Taxotere side effect, the lawsuit claims.

The complaint says defendant Sanofi-Aventis, Taxotere’s parent company, marketed Taxotere to the medical community and to patients without divulging the real risks of permanent hair loss and the disfiguring results. Long after the cancer is gone, so is a person’s hair.

Taxotere Took Time for FDA Approval

Chemotherapy drugs are designed to shrink the size of cancer tumors and to stop tumors from growing. When chemotherapy kills cancer cells that have spread to other body parts, the incidence of cancer recurrence decreases.

Taxotere belongs to a family of chemotherapy drugs called taxanes, which basically prevent cancer cells from replicating.

When Taxotere was first submitted for FDA approval in 1994, the FDA rejected it on the basis that Taxotere was more toxic than other taxanes, and that more studies were needed on potential side effects.

In May 1996, the FDA approved Taxotere, but only for treating locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer after previous chemotherapy treatments proved unsuccessful.

Taxotere Lawsuit

The Taxotere lawsuit points out that Sanofi disclosed the risks of permanent hair loss to patients and regulatory agencies in other countries, but did not do so in the United States.

Sanofi also failed to disclose adequate warnings about the true safety risks associated with the drug’s use, says Hattie. It also failed to convey the degree or severity of side effects related to permanent hair loss.

According to the Taxotere lawsuit, Hattie was not provided with instructions on how to intervene or reduce the risk of permanent hair loss.

The complaint claims Taxotere and its makers caused Hattie to suffer serous and dangerous side effects that are personal and permanent.

Her quality and enjoyment of life have diminished as a result of these side effects that have left her with mental anguish, lost earning capacity, therapy expenses, medical expenses, suffering, discomfort and permanent hair loss, according to her claim.

The Taxotere lawsuit claims the defendants outright ignored the link between the use of Taxotere and the risk of disfiguring permanent hair loss.

Permanent hair loss from Taxotere use means the loss of hair on the head, eyebrows, eyelashes and all body hair. The loss of all of this hair is a daily physical reminder of the breast cancer and is damage that affects the emotional well-being of women.

The Taxotere lawsuit alleges that the drug’s makers and marketers knew that permanent hair loss would be side effect that women would want to avoid if at all possible, and that is why the side effect was not divulged.

The Taxotere Lawsuit is Case No. 3:16-cv-488-WHB-JCG in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi Northern, Jackson Division