It’s common knowledge that many chemotherapy patients will lose their hair, but it’s supposed to grow back soon after treatment stops. If you had breast cancer and completed chemotherapy, you may be wondering why your hair isn’t coming back full and thick like it used to be. Maybe you hair is growing back in thin patches or you just have a light fuzz on your scalp. Whatever the case may be, you probably feel confused, angry, embarrassed and like you lost part of your identity. What caused this problem and what can you do about it?
Docetaxel is a chemotherapy medication that also goes under the name brand Taxotere and is distributed by pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis. It’s been used since January 2005 to help breast cancer patients. Unfortunately, the answer is yes, Docetaxel can cause permanent alopecia (hair loss).Several studies have linked docetaxel to permanent hair loss:
There are other just as effective chemotherapy treatments on the market that don’t have this risk (such as Taxol), but patients weren’t given the full information to make an educated choice on which medication would be best for them. In 2005, manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis warned European consumers about the potential for permanent hair loss but it wasn’t until 2015 that patients in the U.S. were told. Since there are hundreds of women in the U.S. who are struggling with permanent alopecia after taking Taxotere, these claims have been consolidated to the Eastern District of Louisiana. This means that all the pre-trial proceedings such as gathering of documents, scheduling corporate testimonies under oath and evaluating expert witnesses will be handled by a single court.The first generic forms of Docetaxel were approved for the market on April 20, 2012. Since then, four other companies have put this drug on the market under section505(b)(2) of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. This allowed these companies to produce this medication without having to conduct expensive duplicate studies. Plaintiffs who are making claims against the manufacturers of Docetaxel claim that the previous studies on Taxotere show the link between Docetaxel and permanent alopecia and that they should have been warned.So far there have been no Docetaxel settlements, but as of June 15, 2017 there were 1,116 women across the nation who have made claims against Sanofi-Aventis. This trial is set to go before a jury in September 2018.
