A recent lawsuit claims that treatment with Taxotere prevents hair growth after chemo, leading to permanent baldness.

Plaintiff Bertha J. was reportedly treated with docetaxel chemotherapy agents from November 2014 to January 2015. Since treatment with the drug, Bertha has allegedly struggled with hair growth after chemo – a struggle she blames on Taxotere.

“Since the completion of her treatment with Taxotere/docetaxel in approximately January 2015, Ms. Johnson has experienced the following injuries: (a) permanent/persistent hair loss on her scalp; (b) diffuse thinning of hair throughout her total scalp; (c) significant thinning of the hair on her head after 6 months of discontinuing Taxotere/ docetaxel; (d) a large bald area in the hair on her head; (e) multiple bald spots in the hair on her head; (f) a change in the texture/thickness of her hair; and (g) permanent/persistent loss of eyebrows and eyelashes,” the Taxotere lawsuit claims.

Bertha’s husband James M. is also participating in the lawsuit.

Taxotere, and its generic form docetaxel, are part of the chemotherapy drug class known as taxanes. These chemotherapy agents are derived from yew trees and differ from other cancer drugs in that they prevent the spread of cancer by over stabilizing the cancer cell. This prevents the cell from duplicating and undergoing cell reproduction.

Although docetaxel derivatives such as Taxotere are commonly used in the treatment of breast cancer, Bertha claims that the drugs are associated with unwarned side effects which inhibit hair growth after chemo.

Chemotherapy agents often target cancer cells based on their fast reproduction rates. This may also lead to hair follicles being targeted, as they are some of the fastest diving healthy cells in the body. The targeting of hair follicles leads to baldness during chemotherapy treatment, but hair growth after chemo is usually unaffected.

According to Bertha’s lawsuit, drug manufacturers failed to warn consumers that hair growth after chemo might stop due to treatment with Taxotere. Due to this alleged failure to warn, Bertha reportedly suffered from emotional injuries associated with her permanent hair loss.

She claims that hair loss can lead to long term emotional harm because it can diminish a woman’s self-confidence and cause her to hate her appearance. Society values healthy hair, she argues, and therefore baldness is considered “ugly”.

Bertha also argues that the permanent lack of hair growth after chemo can lead to patients feeling unable to escape the cancer stigma. Baldness and cancer are universally associated with each other, and Bertha argues that permanent hair loss causes her to be permanently associated with cancer.

Bertha and James accuse various drug manufacturers of failure to warn, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, and fraud & deceit. Because Bertha is not sure which docetaxel derivative she was treated with, she brings her claims against all docetaxel manufacturers including Sanofi-Aventis, Sandoz, McKesson, Sun Pharma, and Actavis.

The Taxotere lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, general damages, special damages, punitive damages, restitution, disgorgement, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

The Taxotere Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-14330-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.