A South Carolina cancer patient has filed a lawsuit against Sanofi-Aventis, alleging that the pharmaceutical giant’s breast cancer chemo drug docetaxel caused her permanent rather than temporary hair loss.

The plaintiff, Sylvia A., says she began breast cancer chemo treatment by docetaxel injection in September 2013, continuing treatment for several months until January 2014. As many cancer patients do, Sylvia says she suffered from hair loss upon initially undergoing breast cancer chemo treatment with docetaxel.

But then months—and now years—have gone by, and Sylvia says her hair has not grown back. Because of her treatment with docetaxel specifically, she claims, she continues to suffer from disfiguring permanent hair loss, or alopecia.

Sylvia alleges that Sanofi was aware of the risk of permanent alopecia posed by its breast cancer chemo treatment drug, yet failed to warn her and the medical community about this risk.

Sylvia filed her breast cancer chemo lawsuit on Nov. 20, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The lawsuit was filed on multiple counts, including failure to warn, negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment, and several others.

Sylvia joins the growing number of women who have filed lawsuits after their breast cancer chemo has left them with permanent alopecia. If you or a loved one have suffered from permanent hair loss complications after breast cancer chemo with a docetaxel drug, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation.

Docetaxel Basics

Docetaxel drugs are a popular breast cancer chemo treatment. One of the most widely used docetaxel drugs is Taxotere, manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996. Even though docetaxel has grown into one of the most popular cancer treatments today, it has also become more and more deeply linked with complications, including permanent hair loss side effects.

Breast Cancer Chemo and Hair Loss

Cancer patients generally go into treatment already aware that they run the risk of losing their hair due to chemotherapy—after all, hair loss is the most recognizable of chemotherapy side effects. However, while patients are aware of this risk, they also expect that after chemotherapy treatment is over, they will be able to regrow their hair.

Unfortunately, more and more docetaxel patients are reporting that the alopecia they experience during chemotherapy treatment does not end when they stop treatment. Instead, reports claim, they are unable to grow their hair back even years after chemotherapy is over. For many patients, this means that they are left with head, eyelash, and eyebrow hair loss, which may eventually grow back in patches or not at all.

Filing a Docetaxel Breast Cancer Chemo Lawsuit

If you or a loved one has suffered from permanent hair loss after undergoing docetaxel breast cancer chemo treatment, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation. While filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by chemotherapy complications, it can at least help to alleviate the financial burden caused by medical bills, lost wages, and more.

The Breast Cancer Chemo Lawsuit is Case No. 2:18-cv-11309-JTM-MBN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.