An Ohio woman recently filed yet another Taxotere lawsuit alleging that the chemotherapy drug caused her disfiguring permanent alopecia, or severe hair loss. According to the lawsuit, she was not adequately warned about this risk prior to taking the treatment.

The plaintiff, Kerri M., began taking a docetaxel injection (also known by its brand name Taxotere) as part of her chemotherapy treatment on around Sept. 14, 2015. This usage continued for a few months, until Dec. 30, 2015.

Of course, most cancer patients are aware when they begin their chemotherapy treatment that there is a substantial risk of losing their hair in the process. However, they also generally expect that their hair will grow back after chemotherapy is over.

But Kerri—and many others in her situation—found that her hair simply would not go back even when she was done with chemotherapy treatment altogether. Her lawsuit alleges that she suffers from disfiguring permanent alopecia after chemotherapy.

Even though many patients do not know about the serious possibility of this side effect lasting past treatment itself, disfiguring permanent alopecia is not actually rare—thousands of women have filed lawsuits over this issue after finding that their hair would not grow back.

Kerri filed her disfiguring permanent alopecia lawsuit on Oct. 3, 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including failure to warn, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment, fraud and deceit, extreme and outrageous conduct/intentional infliction of emotional distress, and others.

Background of Taxotere

Taxotere (also known by its generic name, docetaxel) is a commonly used chemotherapy drug manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Sanofi. Taxotere was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) back in 1996, and has grown steadily more popular over the years.

A growing number of Taxotere patients are discovering that they are left with disfiguring permanent alopecia from chemotherapy, unable to grow their hair back at all.

Filing a Lawsuit Over Disfiguring Permanent Alopecia

According to this permanent hair loss lawsuit and others like it, Sanofi either knew or should have known that their drug Taxotere was linked with permanent hair loss complications.

Lawsuits allege that the company not only failed to adequately warn about this risk, but even actively concealed information, instead promoting the drug as both safe and effective. Lawsuits claim that Sanofi has been aware of reports and studies linking Taxotere to permanent hair loss from chemotherapy since as far back as its approval in 1996.

If you or someone you love has suffered from disfiguring permanent alopecia from chemotherapy treatment with Taxotere or another docetaxel medication, you may be able to gain some kind of financial compensation by joining Taxotere permanent hair loss litigation.

Filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering a cancer patient endures, or take away the effects of hair loss from chemotherapy, but it can help compensate for the financial expenses incurred by cancer treatment bills or even lost wages.

The Disfiguring Permanent Alopecia Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-10071-KDE-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.