A Louisiana woman battling cancer recently filed a lawsuit against Sanofi, alleging that its chemotherapy drug left her with Taxotere permanent hair loss.

After being diagnosed with cancer the plaintiff, JoAnn F., began chemotherapy treatment with Taxotere on May 28, 2013, and continued with Taxotere as part of her regimen through Sept. 16, 2013.

However, the lawsuit alleges, after being treated with Taxotere during chemotherapy, JoAnn lost her hair. While this is a common and well-known side effect of cancer treatment, JoAnn was expecting her hair to grow back after treatment was over, and was not expecting to be left with Taxotere permanent hair loss, or alopecia.

After realizing that her hair would not grow back, JoAnn decided to file a lawsuit against Sanofi. The Taxotere permanent hair loss lawsuit was filed on June 28 on multiple counts, including failure to warn, misrepresentation, fraud and deceit, breach of express warranty, and others.  JoAnn’s husband, Patrick, also filed on one count of loss of consortium.

Background of Taxotere

Taxotere (also known as docetaxel, its generic name) is manufactured and sold by Sanofi. Taxotere is one of the most popular breast cancer treatment drugs, and is also used for other cancer treatment, including lung cancer.

Taxotere has been around for over two decades, since it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) back in 1996. In that span of time, Taxotere has grown increasingly more popular across the country.

In order to stop cancer cells from spreading quickly, Taxotere prevents cancer cells from growing. Taxotere fights cancer by preventing cancer cells from growing. However, the same function that prevents the rapid growth of cancer cells may also prevent a patient’s hair from growing back after chemotherapy, causing Taxotere permanent hair loss problems.

Hair loss problems are an expected part of chemotherapy treatment, but patients also generally expect that their hair will grow back after treatment is over. Unfortunately, many cancer patients have discovered after cancer treatment with certain chemotherapy drugs, including Taxotere, their hair will either not grow back or grows back with great difficulty.

After experiencing Taxotere permanent hair loss, also known as alopecia, a growing number of cancer patients like JoAnn are filing lawsuits against drug manufacturers. According to this Taxotere permanent hair losslawsuit and others like it, Sanofi either knew or should have known that Taxotere was linked with the risk of permanent hair loss.

Filing a Taxotere Permanent Hair Loss Lawsuit

If you or someone you love has suffered from serious side effects of Taxotere including alopecia, or permanent hair loss after cancer treatment, you may be able to gain some kind of financial compensation by filing a Taxotere permanent hair loss lawsuit.

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

The Taxotere Permanent Hair Loss Lawsuit is Case No 2:17-cv-06249-KDE-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.