A growing number of cancer patients are filing Taxotere lawsuits, alleging that the chemotherapy drug has caused permanent hair loss, even after their treatment period is over.

Taxotere, manufactured and distributed by Sanofi-Aventis, is used as a chemotherapy drug to treat a variety of cancers. The drug is especially common as treatment of locally advanced breast cancer.

Taxotere was approved as a cancer treatment by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996. It has grown increasingly more popular across the country ever since.

Taxotere works to fight breast cancer by preventing cancer cells from growing, which prevents the cancer from its ability to quickly spread.

However, the same function that prevents the rapid growth of cancer cells may also prevent a patient’s hair from growing back after chemotherapy.

While women undergoing chemotherapy typically expect to lose their hair during treatment, a condition known as alopecia, they also expect that their hair will grow back after their treatment is over.

Sanofi-Aventis even includes alopecia on its list of Taxotere side effects, but it purposely downplays the likelihood of permanent hair loss. The company claims that, “in most cases,” regular hair growth will return to Taxotere users after treatment is over.

Taxotere Lawsuits

However, the number of plaintiffs who claim to have suffered from permanent hair loss due to Taxotere is much greater than indicated on any Taxotere warning label.

Indeed, Taxotere lawsuits allege that Sanofi-Aventis was aware of the prevalence of permanent hair loss linked with their drug, and purposely downplayed the likelihood of alopecia.

As a result, hundreds of women have experienced permanent hair loss because of Taxotere. These women claim that the permanent loss of their hair has also caused a loss of self-esteem, loss of femininity, and increased depression and distress.

For women fighting breast cancer, chemotherapy treatments involve enough suffering. Permanent hair loss is a condition that, while it may not be life-threatening, can cause distress and self-image problems for a group of women who have already experienced far more than their share of pain.

Taxotere lawsuits claim that Sanofi has been aware of reports and studies linking Taxotere to permanent hair loss after chemotherapy since as far back as its approval in 1996.

However, Taxotere lawsuits allege that, despite knowledge of their drug’s connection with permanent chemotherapy hair loss, Sanofi chose to conceal this information from patients and the wider medical community.

Some women who were treated with Taxotere during chemotherapy have reported that they were told their hair would grow back after chemotherapy was finished, yet ended up either having major difficulties growing their hair back, taking an especially long time to grow, or even suffering from permanent chemotherapy hair loss.

If you or someone you love has experienced permanent chemotherapy hair loss after treatment, you may be able to gain some kind of compensation through a breast cancer drug lawsuit.

Filing a Taxotere lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering a cancer patient endures, but it can help compensate for the financial expenses incurred by medical bills or even lost wages.