10-15 Percent of Cancer Patients Given Taxotere Develop Permanent Hair Loss

Cancer patients receiving Taxotere were kept in the dark as to the drug's side effect of causing permanent hair loss

Friday, September 8, 2017 - Devastating emotional scars from total body hair loss, including head hair, eyebrows and eyelashes is a side effect of the powerful, highly toxic, anti-cancer chemotherapy drug Taxotere. Every cancer patient is aware of temporary hair loss from cancer chemotherapy and accepts it as a necessary evil of cancer chemotherapy and one can rationalize the emotional pain when coupled with the fact that a cancer patient is doing everything they can to save their life and get well.

When surveyed most people ranked chemotherapy hair loss as distressing, embarrassing and humiliating and the only redeeming factor was that the hair loss was temporary and hair would, in time, grow back, maybe even thicker and nicer. A cancer patient's Taxotere chemotherapy experience was different however and many people are experiencing total and "permanent" hair loss due to the chemical's high degree of toxicity. Taxotere need be given to a cancer patient half as often as other chemotherapy drugs, not because of its effectiveness at treating advanced forms of cancer but because of its toxicity. Unaware of this fact Taxotere chemotherapy patients had no idea that their hair loss would be permanent and doctors boasted about the relative convenience of only having to have half as many chemotherapy treatments.

As a result of this deception over 1200 Taxotere patients have filed lawsuits alleging that Taxotere's maker, Sanofi-Aventis should have warned them in advance of the drug's propensity to cause permanent hair loss. Plaintiffs put forth the argument that had they known their hair loss would be permanent and thus life-altering they would have considered alternative chemotherapy drugs, precisely the type of behavior Sanofi-Aventis sought to prevent with a series of unethical, immoral and illegal promotions to ensure cancer doctors and their cancer patients were kept in the dark. Executives at Sanofi-Aventis have known since back in 2005 the results of the GEICAM 9805 study, that Taxotere causes permanent hair loss in almost 10% of its patients and issued warnings to Canadian and European customers. European and Canadian warnings were couched by describing the risk of hair loss in almost 1 out of 10 patients as being a "common side effect" stressing that hair loss was "reversible in most instances." Such ambiguity is little comfort to the thousands of women who now face having to go through the rest of their life without hair and deal with a lifetime of permanent disfigurement, depression and poor self-esteem and body image.

In 2009, the manufacturers of Taxotere, Sanofi-Aventis, was cited by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as having made the false and misleading claim that the drug was more effective at fighting cancer than other anti-cancer drugs in use namely Taxol. The company's claim was bolstered by the fact that it is given to patients half as often as similar chemo drugs. What was omitted however was the fact that the drug was so much more toxic and harmful than the other drugs it was unsafe to be given in the same dosages and at the same frequency. The company's branding of the drug also violated the US Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

More Recent Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuit News:

• Taxotere Alopecia Warning Limited to the Fine Print | 5/17/2019
• Women that have to undergo chemotherapy for the first time face great anxiety | 5/6/2019
• Taxotere Patients Denied Their Right To Make An Informed Decision | 4/24/2019
• Patients Must Be Made Aware Of Taxotere's Three Major Side Effects | 4/18/2019
• Women Are Angry Over Sanofi Failing To Warn About The Possibility of Permanent Hair Loss | 4/12/2019
• Women Undergoing Cancer Treatments Are Taking Better Care of Themselves to Limit Hair Loss | 4/5/2019
• Taxotere Permanent Hair Loss Has Devastating Psychological Implications For Patients | 3/25/2019
• Taxotere Causes Alopecia Which Can Be Psychologically Damaging | 3/20/2019
• Drug Makers Need To Write Clearer, More Descriptive Drug Warnings Starting With Taxotere | 3/18/2019
• Taxotere Lawsuits May Teach Doctors a Valuable Lesson | 3/13/2019
• Taxotere Permanent Baldness Warning | 4/30/2018
• Taxotere Chemotherapy and Permanent Hair Loss | 4/26/2018
• Sanofi Sales Representatives Oversold Taxotere | 4/24/2018
• Scientific Study Confirms Permanent Taxotere Hair Loss | 4/12/2018
• Chemotherapy Drug Side Effects | 4/9/2018
• Cancer Doctors Fail to Warn Patients | 4/4/2018
• Taxotere's Psychological Side Effects | 3/13/2018
• Permanent Hair Loss Can Lead to Depression | 3/6/2018
• A Woman's Hair is Linked to Their Feminity | 2/23/2018
• Studies Indicate Taxotere Causes Permanent Hair Loss | 2/14/2018
• Taxotere's Ambiguous Hair Loss Warning | 2/5/2018
• Permanent Hair Loss Makes the Fear of Growing Old All Too Real | 12/29/2017
• Thousands of Women File Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuits | 12/27/2017
• Taxotere Patients Psychological Trauma Result in Lawsuits Against Sanofi-Aventis | 12/22/2017
• Scientific Studies Point to Taxotere Hair Loss | 12/18/2017
• Cancer Patients Right to Make an Informed Decision | 12/13/2017
• How Women Think About Chemotherapy Hair Loss | 12/11/2017
• The Emotional Side Effects of Alopecia | 12/8/2017
• Taxotere May Cause Permanent Hair Loss | 12/4/2017
• Women Equate Baldness With Masculinity | 11/27/2017
• Symptoms of Permanent Hair Loss | 11/21/2017
• Taxotere's Warning May Have Come Too Late For Many | 11/15/2017
• Taxotere Benefits and Side Effects | 11/9/2017
• Women Were Not Given a Choice of Cancer Drugs | 11/1/2017
• The Impact of Permanent Hair Loss on Some Cancer Survivors | 9/29/2017
• The Emotional Side Effects of Permanent Hair Loss For Women Are All Too Real | 9/22/2017
• Taxotere is Highly Toxic and Causes Permanent Hair Loss | 9/15/2017
• Permanent Hair Loss From Taxotere is a Real Possibility | 9/1/2017
• Taxotere Permanent Hair Loss Lawsuits | 7/21/2017
• Permanent Hair Loss Caused by Taxotere | 6/26/2017
• Taxotere Warnings Now Include Permanent Hair Loss | 6/19/2017
• Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuits Focus on Warning Label | 6/12/2017
• Permanent Hair Loss in Some Taxotere Users Delivers Secondary Blow to Cancer Patients | 6/5/2017

Lawyers for Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuits

Onder, Shelton, O'Leary & Peterson, LLC is a St. Louis personal injury law firm handling serious injury and death claims across the country. Its mission is the pursuit of justice, no matter how complex the case or strenuous the effort. Onder, Shelton, O'Leary & Peterson has represented clients throughout the United States in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation such as Pradaxa, Lexapro and Yasmin/Yaz, where the firm's attorneys held significant leadership roles in the litigation, as well as Actos, DePuy, Risperdal and others. The Onder Law Firm has won more than $300 million in four talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits in St. Louis. Law firms throughout the nation often seek its experience and expertise on complex litigation.