Taxotere Chemotherapy

If two drugs had relatively similar outcomes, but one caused permanent hair loss, which would you choose?

The answer is clear. But most patients weren’t given that option.

The selection of Taxotere over Taxol would not have been important except for the fact that Taxotere causes Permanent Hair Loss (Alopecia) in up to 12% of women according to some studies. Taxol does not cause Permanent Hair Loss in any noticeable numbers.

In 2015 the FDA began requiring the manufacturer to place a warning label on the drug. The manufacturer had to recall batches of the drug, both in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, in 2001 and 2016 because of other manufacturing errors.

A lawsuit filed in 2016 by a cancer survivor in California alleges that the manufacturer actually knew about the adverse side effect since the late 1990s. The manufacturers own studies revealed the permanent alopecia, but they chose to hide the information from consumers. Taxotere sales reached $1.4 billion in 2004.

Breast Cancer victims and their doctors should have been able to make an informed decision as to which drug they wanted: the drug that doesn’t cause Permanent Hair Loss or the drug that does.

Taxotere Chemotherapy Lawsuits

Taxotere was sold in Europe before it was introduced in the U.S. and the European version of the F.D.A. ordered Sanofi-Aventis to place the “Permanent Hair Loss” warning on the box and the advertising materials in Europe. And yet, Sano-Aventis chose not to place this warning on any of the Taxotere advertising materials or the box containing the drug when they introduced it in the U.S. even though they were obviously aware of the RISK of Permanent Hair Loss.

The selection of Taxotere over Taxol would not have been important except for the fact that Taxotere causes Permanent Hair Loss (Alopecia) in up to 12% of women according to some studies. Taxol does not cause Permanent Hair Loss in any noticeable numbers. Doctors should have been informed of the Alopecia risks in order that they could inform their patients.

Taxotere and Permanent Baldness

If two drugs had relatively similar outcomes, but one caused permanent hair loss, which would you choose?

The answer is clear. But most patients weren’t given that option.

The selection of Taxotere over Taxol would not have been important except for the fact that Taxotere causes Permanent Hair Loss (Alopecia) in up to 12% of women according to some studies. Taxol does not cause Permanent Hair Loss in any noticeable numbers.

Learn More

Shirley Ledlie, a breast cancer survivor, and recipient of Taxotere, has written a book about her experiences. She also is active in supporting women fighting breast cancer, alopecia, and speaking out about Taxotere and appropriate product label warnings about the risk of permanent hair loss.

This is Shirley Ledlie’s book, and special offer:

Use of Taxotere has been shown to cause permanent hair loss.

Why isn’t more known about it?

If two drugs had relatively similar outcomes, but one caused permanent hair loss, which would you choose?

The answer is clear. But most patients weren’t given that option.

Learn More

S.A. Ledlie is a great writer, and survivor. Her book and her support group are helping many.

This was nine years ago and A Head of Our Time now has “a thriving community of monk lookalikes around the world. We even have two members who discovered they were patients from the same clinic with the same oncologist – who told them both he had never seen it happen before!”