The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) allowed claims revolving around the generic form of Taxotere (docetaxel) to be included in the current Taxotere MDL being tried in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Currently, there are almost 800 lawsuits pending in the MDL.
Current Litigation
The lawsuits accuse Taxotere manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventis and other generic manufacturers of designing a defective medication. The suits also say manufacturers failed to adequately warn the public and medical community about the risks of the drug. Plaintiffs state that the manufacturers knew it caused permanent or long-term hair loss and said nothing.
The lawsuits insist that Taxotere is more likely to cause permanent hair loss than other effective chemo drugs available. It is a fact that Sanofi warned about this risk in other countries, including Canada and the European Union. In the U.S., however, the drug’s labeling has a vague warning. It states “hair generally grows back” after chemotherapy with Taxotere is complete. For hundreds, this is not the case.
Numbers Increasing
More and more plaintiffs are joining the current litigation. Fifty new cases joined in just a month. The Taxotere MDL added 50 more lawsuits between January and February, according to JPML’s Multidistrict Litigation Statistics Report. That is after almost 500 new cases joined from December to January.
Do I Have a Taxotere Suit?
Patients expect hair loss during chemotherapy. It is a very common side effect in the fight against cancer. However, what is wrong is that the manufacturer never warned these women that the loss of hair could be permanent when using Taxotere. If the manufacturer informed these patients that their hair loss could be permanent, they may have chosen a different drug like paclitaxel instead.
These women never had the chance of making an informed choice. They are thrilled to be cancer-free but find themselves still looking like a cancer patient.
If you lost your hair for an extended period of time after taking Taxotere, contact us today. Let our 20 years of litigation experience fight for you. We are available 24/7.