Taxotere: A Brief Background

The cancer fighting drug, Taxotere is hugely famous to treat breast cancer. This drug is manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis, a drug manufacturing company. The Taxotere was approved by the FDA i.e. the Food and Administration Dept of the U.S in the year 1996. Since that year, this cancer fighting drug that comes in injectable forms has gained increasing popularity all across the country.  But, the on the flip side ofb its popular scenario, the past few years have also been the witness of its adverse effects. It has been first reported as the result of a study conducted by the European Society for Medical Oncology that taxotere can cause hair loss and that too in some cases permanently.

Taxotere is the drug that basically restricts the cancer calls from spreading all over the human body. It slowly eradicates those cells thus, causing the death of the same and as a consequence another breast cancer survivor emerges out of the many who are suffering. This function obvious sounds good to fight cancer and truly is but the prevention of revived hair growth on a patient’s head may also be consequence of the similar function of the drug. After all, there are proven as well as published reports that establish the fact that taxotere can cause hair loss.

Chemotheraphy & Hair loss- The Inseparables

Chemotheraphy is for the fight of cancer, which is correct. But, it is the same therapy that makes the patient undergo acute pain in the process as well as post process with the commonly known side effect of Hair Loss. In most case scenarios the patient is well aware of this fact about the side effect. But, what they do not know is that certain cancer fighting drugs like that of Taxotere have been reported to have proven links with permanent hair loss post chemotherapy which is also known as Alopecia.

There are many women who are breast cancer survivors with the help of taxotere as a chemotherapy drug. Some have opined that their hair has grown post the therapy but it has taken a very long time and has revived with much difficulty. On the other hand, many have also reported that they have been suffering from the condition which can be called as a permanent chemotherapy hair loss and that they were not aware of any such severe side effects of the drug.

The concealment of Sanofi-Aventis

Since the very time of its approval by the FDA, Sanofi was aware of the researches, studies and reports that came out as proof of Taxotere’s link to permanent hair loss, which dates back to 1996. This is what lawsuits claim. But nothing was done about it. The taxotere lawsuits charge the manufacturing company with the crime of hiding or concealing this necessary piece of information about the side effect of Taxotere irrespective of being aware about the permanence of hair loss that it causes. They not just hid it from the patients but also from the broader medical community.