Plaintiff Jane H. is filing a lawsuit in Louisiana federal court alleging that she suffered persistent hair loss from Taxotere. Her husband William is filing his own claim for loss of consortium.

Jane is filing the lawsuit against Sanofi SA, the manufacturing company of Taxotere. The company produces the chemotherapy drug used in the treatment of specific types of cancer, including breast cancer.

According to the persistent hair loss from Taxotere lawsuit, Jane first started using the drug in December 2008 and stopped using it for treatment in March 2009. While she was expecting hair loss from the chemo, she presumed it would eventually grow back. Such was not the case.

The defendant faces the following counts alleging persistent hair loss from Taxotere: strict products liability for failure to warn, strict products liability for misrepresentation, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, fraud and deceit, breach of express warranty.

Taxotere Facts

Taxotere is also known by the generic name docetaxel. It is used widely as a chemotherapy drug in breast cancer treatment. First approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1996, Taxotere remains a popular chemotherapy drug today.  It is manufactured by Sanofi SA, a French multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Gentilly, France.

However, there is a severe adverse effect that allegedly results from the use of Taxotere. This is that patients are being left with the lack of hair regrowth, a condition known as alopecia.

Alopecia is persistent and problematic hair loss. Hair loss is known to be a common adverse effect that results from having chemotherapy treatment. It is one of the most recognizable symptoms of a patient having undergone chemotherapy.

Most patients have the understanding and knowledge that by starting a form of chemotherapy treatment the run the risk of losing some or all of the hair. They also expect that eventually their hair will grow back.

A growing number of Taxotere patients, however, much like Jane, are discovering that this may not be the case. These patients are having to go through a serious adverse effect that has been linked to use of Taxotere: permanent alopecia.

Reports emphasize that some patients are unable to grow their hair at all whatsoever, while others are having their hair grow back, but only in patches or clumps.

The allegations against Sanofi SA is that the manufacturing company failed to sufficiently and adequately indicate that such a risk and adverse effect is a possible outcome of Taxotere’s use throughout chemotherapy.

An earlier warning label provided for Taxotere stated that hair “generally grows back.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a change in the warning label in December 2015, more than 10 years after the drug had been on the market since its approval in 1996. The FDA demanded that the warning label announce that permanent alopecia has been reported in connection with this drug. It was only after the FDA cited cases of women suffering from permanent hair loss that they issued this warning label change.

The Persistent Hair Loss From Taxotere Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-08940-KDE-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.