Permanent Hair Loss Caused By Taxotere® Drug

 Posted on May 17, 2017 in Prescription Drugs

By Timothy Tomasik

If you or a loved one have been recently diagnosed with cancer, there is no doubt that you have a multitude of questions racing through your mind. What sort of treatment options are available? What are side effects of chemotherapy? How will my, or my family member’s body handle the drugs that they are prescribed after treatment? And of course, ultimately will the treatment be successful?

It is no secret that a cancer diagnosis can be one the most frightening and uncertain times for a family. Once diagnosed, patients typically consult with their doctor to determine what chemotherapy options are available to target and destroy cancer cells. Unfortunately, chemotherapy cannot tell the difference between a cancer cell and a healthy cell making temporary hair loss from a common side effect of treatment. While most patients grow their hair back after treatment ends, some chemotherapy drugs are making this loss permanent. Sadly, patients, (especially female breast cancer survivors), are beginning to experience permanent hair loss after using the chemotherapy drug Taxotere ®.

Tomasik Kotin Kasserman Trial Lawyers are investigating cases involving patients who took Taxotere ® as part of their chemotherapy regiment and who have suffered from permanent hair loss, including permanent significant alopecia.  There has been a connection between the use of this drug and a significant lack of hair regrowth after six months.

Taxotere ® is administered through injection and has several known side effects including nausea, fatigue, mouth sores, bone and muscle pain.  Also, laboratory testing has demonstrated that patients taking Taxotere® have a low platelet count making it extraordinarily difficult for patients to form clots to stop bleeding.

As result of these side effects, the FDA has received numerous reports from women who have suffered permanent hair loss after treating with Taxotere ®.  Like many defective drug products, patients were not adequately warned of the potential side effect of permanent hair loss. The drug’s manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis removed language from its label, including “hair generally grows back” in 2010. It was not until five years later, in December 2015, that the side effect of permanent hair loss was added to the Taxotere ® label. Sanofi-Aventis waited until this time to also warn patients that that permanent hair loss has been reported with use of the drug.

Many patients know this drug by its generic name Docetaxel.  This drug is classified as a “plant alkaloid” and in 2006 was approved by the FDA for the treatment of breast cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer and other metastatic cancers, including prostate cancer.