A woman recently has filed a hair loss alopecia lawsuit against Sanofi Aventis, makers of Taxotere, in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, joining thousands of other cancer survivors.

Plaintiff Tirzah N. is filing the hair loss alopecia lawsuit demanding a trial by jury. The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 14, 2018.

According to the hair loss alopecia lawsuit, Tirzah is a resident of the state of Florida. She says that she began taking Taxotere in May 2015 and continued its use through September of that same year.

However, she says that she suffered serious adverse side effects and complications including permanent hair loss, known medically as alopecia. According to the lawsuit, Tirzah “continues to suffer and will suffer in the future from disfiguring permanent alopecia as a result of receiving chemotherapy with Taxotoere (docetaxel).

The hair loss alopecia lawsuit was filed on multiple counts including strict products liability-failure, to warn, negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, fraud and deceit.

Overview: Hair Loss Alopecia

Taxotere (docetaxel) is a cancer medication manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis, a French multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris.

The drug was approved by the FDA on May 14, 1996. Taxotere, administered intravenously through a vein (during one hour-long infusion cycle, re-administered every 3-4 weeks), is approved as a medication for treatment for conditions such as advanced stomach cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic prostate cancer, and head and neck cancer. It is frequently used in chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Taxotere, part of a family of medications known as taxanes, is prescribed in combination with other medications. These medications include cisplatin, doxorubicin, fluorouracil, cyclophosphamide and cepecitabine.

There have been a multitude of serious side effects linked to the medication, including the permanent loss of hair. Many women, while they may understand that hair loss is a normal part of the chemotherapy treatment, say they did not expect that treatment would result in permanent hair loss.

Several studies have linked Taxotere to permanent hair loss side effects after chemotherapy, affecting all body hair, including eyelashes and eyebrows. Other side effects linked to the medication have also included constipation, diarrhea, bone or muscle pain, infection, low red blood cell count (anemia), and mouth or throat sores.

A study published in the Annals of Oncology in 2012 concluded that “Permanent and severe alopecia is a newly reported complication of the FEC-100 docetaxel breast cancer regimen.”

The context of the study followed 20 women who were being treated with Taxotere. Results found that 19 of the 20 women suffered permanent alopecia because of Taxotere chemotherapy treatment.

According to the study, “No spontaneous regrowth of the scalp hair was noted. Treatment including vitamins … proved to be ineffective.”

The Hair Loss Alopecia Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-10996-JTM-MBN in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The Taxotere MDL is In re: Taxotere (Docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No 2740, is in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana