A recent lawsuit argues that Taxotere, while an effective treatment for breast cancer, can cause permanent hair loss.

Plaintiff Gale S. says she underwent treatment for breast cancer using Taxotere or docetaxel drugs from July 2014 to September 2015. After treatment, Gale allegedly lost her eyebrows, eyelashes, and some of her hair. She allegedly was left with severe bald spots all over her scalp, resulting in emotional injuries.

Taxotere (docetaxel) is a drug used in treatment for breast cancer and other cancers. The drug is part of the drug class known as taxanes, which are cancer treating agents derived from yew plants. Taxanes inhibit cancer growth by over stabilizing the structure of cancer cells and preventing further division.

Like many other chemotherapy agents, taxanes such as Taxotere target cancer cells based on their tendency to divide extremely fast. However, this mechanism allegedly results in the drugs targeting healthy hair cells. Hair cells are some of the fastest dividing healthy cells in the body, which means that they are commonly targeted by chemotherapy agents. This results in the hair loss often associated with treatment for breast cancer and other cancers.

Most hair loss with chemotherapy is temporary and stops after treatment is over. However, treatment for breast cancer with Taxotere allegedly results in permanent hair loss.

“Unlike the temporary and reversible alopecia that ordinarily results from chemotherapy, Taxotere, Docefrez, Docetaxel Injection, and Docetaxel Injection Concentrate cause permanent chemotherapy-induced alopecia, which is defined as an absence of or incomplete hair regrowth six months beyond the completion of chemotherapy,” the Taxotere lawsuit claims.

Permanent hair loss after treatment for breast cancer can allegedly cause a variety of emotional damages to patients. The idea of losing hair even temporarily can be extremely traumatizing for patients and is often reported as the most daunting side effect of chemotherapy, with an alleged 8 percent of women choosing to forgo cancer treatment due to possible hair loss.

Healthy hair is considered to be a universal sign of beauty. Women who lose their hair permanently after treatment for breast cancer may face diminished self-esteem, body image, and quality of life due to the disfiguring condition. These injuries can result in further emotional problems such as depression and anxiety.

Additionally, because hair loss is commonly associated with cancer, survivors of the disease may feel they are unable to escape cancer’s stigma due to their inability to regrow their hair. After losing their hair permanently, cancer survivors may feel like they cannot escape the stigma of cancer or the reminder that they were afflicted by the life-threatening illness.

Gale accuses drug manufacturers of failure to warn, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, and fraud & deceit. The Taxotere lawsuit seeks, compensatory damages, general damages, special damages, loss of earnings, medical expenses, punitive damages, restitution, disgorgement, and other relief.

The Treatment for Breast Cancer Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-13615-JTM-MBN and is part of the Taxotere MDL, In re: Taxotere (docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 2:16-md-02740-KDE-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.