Philosopher Edmund Burke had great insight when he said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Taxoterrorists are amazing women who refuse to stand by and let themselves be victimized. They are the women who battled breast cancer only to be left with permanent alopecia (hair loss) after their Taxotere chemotherapy treatments were completed. Sanofi-Aventis, the makers of Taxotere, knew that there was a high risk that patients could suffer from persistent hair loss after taking their medication, and yet they still failed to warn these patients of this potential adverse effect. Now Taxoterrorists are rising up to hold Sanofi-Aventis accountable for their actions.
The problem with Taxotere is that it poses a risk for this condition while Taxol does not. Taxol is considered to be a natural compound while Taxotere is a synthetic compound. Taxol is found in the bark of a tree and has been used for almost 40 years for chemotherapy. Scientists make Taxotere by forming a synthetic molecule to be twice as strong as Taxol.
There are safer options on the market for women who have breast cancer, and yet Sanofi-Aventis deliberately harmed women without warning them of the possible long term aftermath. For Taxotere patients, it is estimated that between 3% and 22% of women who complete their treatments may never be able to grow their hair back. This condition is considered permanent if you completed chemotherapy for six months or longer and are in remission.
For over a decade there has been evidence from several studies proving that Taxotere is linked to permanent alopecia. In fact, even the US National Library of Medicine published a study in June 2011 that stated that there is substantial proof that specific chemotherapy treatments can cause permanent alopecia such as docetaxel (which is the generic name for Taxotere) for breast cancer.
With so much evidence on the side of Taxoterrorists that prove that this adverse effect was hidden from them, they are taking legal action to hold Sanofi-Aventis accountable and to receive financial compensation for the high cost of wigs, scalp treatments and other necessities that they have had to purchase to manage their condition.
The first settlement between Sanofi-Aventis and the many injured parties will be located in Louisiana. Sixteen districts are being represented in this bellwether case. This means that in this instance, there are twelves states being represented with plaintiffs from those various states. All of these plaintiffs have the same grievance against Sanofi-Aventis: they weren’t warned of the potential risk of permanent alopecia from using Taxotere and are now suffering from this painful adverse effect.
Pretrial proceedings have been established in the Eastern District of Louisiana since October 2016 to reduce duplicating common complaints involved in the cases, to avoid pretrial rulings that may conflict with one another from different courts and to make it easier for the parties, witnesses and the courts while also reducing court costs.
