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Court Grants Mass Tort Status to Drug Taxotere

Court Grants Mass Tort Status to Drug Taxotere

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Court Grants Mass Tort Status to Suits Over Breast Cancer Drug Taxotere

The New Jersey Supreme Court has ordered consolidation of more than 350 suits over alleged side effects from breast cancer drug Taxotere.

The court designated all cases involving allegations of hair loss from Taxotere as multicounty litigation and assigned the group to Superior Court Judge James Hyland in Middlesex County for centralized case management. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner approved the application on Aug. 17.

Rabner said the order would apply to Taxotere-related state court suits against Sanofi-Aventis U.S., Accord Healthcare, Sandoz, Hospira Worldwide, Pfizer, Actavis and Sun Pharmaceuticals.

The defendants took no position on the plaintiffs’ application for mass tort status, said Rayna Kessler of Robins Kaplan in New York, who submitted it. Sanofi-Aventis and Sandoz are named as defendants in many of the New Jersey cases because they have U.S. headquarters in the state, Kessler said.

The plaintiff’s lawyers said designating the suits as multicounty litigation would better enable them to coordinate with multidistrict litigation in federal court, overseen by U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt of the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Taxotere is not sold in generic form but is sold by multiple manufacturers who have received regulatory approval for their products under §505(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, according to Kessler.

That act permits an applicant to rely on findings of safety and effectiveness from studies conducted by other parties and for which the applicant has not obtained a right of reference.

A significant number of Taxotere cases were already before Hyland before the designation as a mass tort, but they are still in the earliest stages of litigation, said Kessler, who sought MCL status on behalf of a group of 12 plaintiffs lawyers.

Besides Kessler’s firm, plaintiffs lawyers bringing Taxotere cases in New Jersey include Mazie, Slater, Katz & Freeman of Roseland; Napoli Shkolnik of Melville, New York; Cohen Placitella Roth of Philadelphia; Berezofsky Law Group of Cherry Hill; Pogust Braslow & Millrood of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania; Burnett Law Firm of Houston; and Simmons Hanley Conroy of New York.

According to court documents, the Food and Drug Administration approved Taxotere in 1996 for breast cancer treatment. Its labeling indicated that the drug could cause temporary hair loss in users, but that the hair grows back when use is discontinued.

In 2015, defendant Sanofi Aventis changed its label to say that cases of permanent hair loss have been reported by users of Taxotere.

But the suits claim that Sanofi and Sandoz knew much earlier that Taxotere may cause permanent hair loss, according to court documents.

A study of 1,060 users between 1999 and 2003 showed that 9.2 percent had persistent hair loss for 10 years or longer, according to the plaintiffs. And in 2006, an oncologist from Denver, Scot Sedlacek, presented a study showing 6.3 percent of one group of subjects had poor hair regrowth, according to court papers, which also cited similar findings in a 2009 article in the British Journal of Dermatology, and a March 2010 article in the Toronto Globe and Mail.

Women who undergo treatment for breast cancer consider hair loss the most traumatic side effect of their treatment, according to studies cited by plaintiffs in court documents.

The chance of hair loss causes 8 percent of women with breast cancer to choose to forego treatment, and women with hair loss may experience a lost sense of femininity, attractiveness and self-confidence, which remains even if hair grows back, the plaintiffs claim in court papers.

A Sanofi-Aventis spokeswoman, Anna Robinson, said in a statement about the multicounty litigation designation for Taxotere that “We fully anticipated and expected this consolidation in New Jersey and have the utmost confidence in the New Jersey judiciary that this litigation will be managed fairly.”

A Sandoz representative did not respond to a request for comment about the designation.

Court Grants Mass Tort Status to Drug Taxotere

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Progress of Federal Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuits

Progress of Federal Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuits

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Joint Status Report Outlines Progress of Federal Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuits

Federally-filed Taxotere lawsuits involving the chemotherapy drug’s alleged potential to cause permanent hair loss continue to move forward in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana.

The litigation convened its most recent status conference on July 18th.

A day prior, attorneys representing plaintiffs and defendants filed a Joint Status Report with the Court, outlining the progress of the proceeding thus far.

More than 9,100 Taxotere Lawsuits Pending in Federal Litigation

Among other things, the report notes that more than 9,100 Taxotere lawsuits are currently undergoing centralized pretrial proceedings in the Eastern District of Louisiana.

There are also state court proceedings pending in California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Delaware, though most of these have been removed to federal court.

Discovery of defendants and trial case discovery is continuing.

“Plaintiffs have served merits discovery on Sanofi, and the Sanofi Defendants have begun the process of producing responsive documents. Plaintiffs have also served merits discovery on Accord Healthcare, Inc., the Hospira/Pfizer Defendants, and Sandoz Inc. and have begun to receive productions,” the report states. “The parties have met and conferred multiple times about this discovery served by the Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs and Defendants are also conducting depositions in the cases selected for trial.

The parties are generally addressing discovery disputes with Magistrate Judge North.”

Taxotere Bellwether Trials to Begin Next May

As previously reported, the federal Taxotere litigation is scheduled to convene five bellwether trials beginning in May 2019 as follows:

May 13-24, 2019
September 16-27, 2019
January 27-February 7, 2020
May 11-22, 2020
September 14-25, 2020

Bellwether trials are intended to serve as test cases, and their verdicts could provide insight into how other juries will decide similar Taxotere hair loss lawsuits

Taxotere and Permanent Hair Loss

Taxotere (docetaxel) is a chemotherapy drug marketed by Sanofi-Aventis. It was initially approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996 to treat breast cancer.

However, its approved indications have since been expanded to include the treatment of head and neck cancer, gastric cancer, prostate cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

Generic versions of docetaxel have been available in the U.S. since 2010.

While temporary hair loss is an expected side effect of most chemotherapy agents, Taxotere lawsuit plaintiffs claim alopecia associated with docetaxel is far more likely to be permanent compared to equally effective alternative medications.

Among other things, plaintiffs note that doctors in Europe and Canada were informed of the potential for docetaxel-induced permanent hair loss in 2005 and 2012, respectively.

However, mention of this potential side effect was not added to the U.S. label until 2015.

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Progress of Federal Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuits

Taxotere Lawsuit News

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Taxotere Lawsuit News: Federal Litigation to Convene Five Bellwether Trials Starting May 2019

The federal court overseeing thousands of Taxotere lawsuits filed over the chemotherapy drugs’ alleged potential to cause permanent hair loss will convene five bellwether trials beginning in May 2019.

According to an Order issued in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, on June 13th, the first trial will be convened May 13th-24th. The case selected for trial will be chosen from a pool of lawsuits filed on behalf of 4 Louisiana residents:

Durden, Antoinette 2:16-cv-16635
Earnest, Barbara 2:16-cv-17144
Francis, Tanya 2:16-cv-17410
Tuyes, Lisa 2:16-cv-15473
The remaining trials will be convened on the following dates:

September 16-27, 2019
January 27-February 7, 2020
May 11-22, 2020
September 14-25, 2020
Taxotere Hair Loss Allegations
Taxotere (docetaxel) is a chemotherapy drug marketed by Sanofi-Aventis. It was initially approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996 to treat breast cancer. However, its approved indications have since been expanded to include the treatment of head and neck cancer, gastric cancer, prostate cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

The first generic version of docetaxel was approved by the FDA in 2010.

Temporary hair loss is a common side effect of most chemotherapy agents. However, Taxotere hair loss plaintiffs allege that alopecia associated with docetaxel is far more likely to be permanent compared to equally effective alternative medications.

Among other things, their complaints note that the European medical community was informed of the potential for docetaxel-induced permanent hair loss in 2005, while the Canadian Taxotere label underwent a similar modification in 2012. However, mention of this potential side effect was not added to the U.S. label until 2015.

What are Bellwether Trials?

More than 8,700 Taxotere lawsuits are currently pending in the Eastern District of Louisiana, where all federally-filed hair loss claims involving the drug have been centralized in a multidistrict litigation to facilitate coordinated discovery and other pretrial proceedings.

The litigation’s bellwether trials are intended to serve as test cases, and their verdicts could provide insight into how other juries will decide similar Taxotere lawsuits.

While there is no guarantee, bellwether trial verdicts also sometimes help pave the way for a global settlement of all claims pending in a multidistrict litigation.

Taxotere Lawsuit News

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Hundreds Seek To Centralize NJ Taxotere Hair Loss Suits

Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuit

Hundreds Seek To Centralize NJ Taxotere Hair Loss Suits

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Hundreds Seek To Centralize NJ Taxotere Hair Loss Suits

As a growing number of Taxotere lawsuits continue to be filed by women nationwide, alleging that Sanofi-Aventis failed to warn users of the breast cancer drug that they may be left with permanent hair loss, both plaintiffs and the drug maker indicate that they are in favor of centralizing the cases before one judge for coordinated pretrial proceedings.

Taxotere (docetaxel) is a high potency taxane-based cancer drug, which was introduced by Sanofi-Aventis in 1996. While it was promoted as superior to existing low potency taxanes, such as Taxol, women have reported experiencing permanent hair loss problems from Taxotere.

While hair loss, or alopecia, is a common side effect of chemotherapy, it is usually temporary. According to allegations raised in Taxotere hair loss cases filed in U.S. District Courts nationwide, Sanofi-Aventis knew that their treatment was no more effective than alternative breast cancer treatments, yet carries a substantial risk or permanent alopecia.

However, plaintiffs allege that false and misleading information was provided to consumers and physicians.

Taxotere hair loss

Taxotere Permanent Hair Loss

Plaintiffs maintain that Sanofi-Aventis knew or should have known about the link between Taxotere and hair loss problems that continue for years following treatment, yet placed their desire for profits before consumer safety, providing false and misleading information to the medical community in the United States.

However, in several other countries, Taxotere warnings have been updated to include information about the risk of permanent hair, but the same information was not provided to American women and doctors.

As early as 2005, studies have found that women face a substantial risk of permanent hair loss with Taxotere, including findings that indicate one out of every 10 patients treated with Taxotere suffered hair loss that lasted up to 10 years and five months following chemotherapy, and in some cases longer.

If the cases are centralized before one judge for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings, it is likely that a small group of cases will be prepared for early “bellwether” trials to help gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and expert testimony that will be repeated throughout the litigation.

While the outcome of such early trials will not be binding in other cases, they may help the parties reach Taxotere settlements for women suffering permanent hair loss problems, avoiding the need for dozens of individual trials in courts throughout the U.S.

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Progress of Federal Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuits

Taxotere Hair Loss

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Taxotere Hair Loss Does Additional Harm to Breast Cancer Survivors

It’s there – like a sub audible hum – underneath Sanofi-Aventis’s decision not to disclose the risk of permanent Taxotere hair loss. It will certainly be there, underpinning the drug manufacturer’s offers to settle the lawsuits according to National Trial Lawyers.

The effort to minimize the harm that Taxotere alopecia does to breast cancer survivors, though rarely said aloud, goes a lot like this:

“C’mon. It’s just hair. Aren’t you glad to be alive?”

Permanent baldness can be devastating for women. Hair loss reportedly causes more psychological pain for some breast cancer survivors than the loss of a breast. Yet, evidence suggests that Sanofi-Aventis chose to hide the danger, minimize it, and play it down when it happened.

Motivation is anyone’s guess. It’s just hair, and you know how women can be about that.

Studies show that for women more than men, sexuality, attractiveness, and personality are symbolically linked to hair.

Hair loss can seriously affect self-esteem and body image. In a study of cancer patients with and without alopecia, those with alopecia had a poorer body image and worsening self-concept after the loss.

In other, research about 40 percent of women with alopecia report marital problems as a consequence, and about 63 percent claim to have had career related problems.

Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuit

Christine tells a more personal story: “I will never forget leaving the dermatologist’s rooms after being told that my lack of hair growth was due to my particular cocktail of chemo drugs, the likely culprit being Taxotere.

I was utterly devastated as I felt I had lost my femininity and aged another 20 years, all at once. It was so much worse than losing a breast to cancer, because that could be fixed – I had undergone a reconstruction.”

The FDA approved Taxotere in 1996. At the time, patient warnings included only information about temporary hair loss. As early as 2009, European labeling for Taxotere warned of cases of permanent alopecia.

Studies over a number of years reported permanent alopecia in between 6 and 15 percent of patients. Not until 2015, however, did the FDA update US safety warnings to include the possibility of permanent baldness.

Were Taxotere the only effective drug on the market to treat breast cancer, patients’ decision-making might have been different. However, studies suggest that paclitaxel (marketed as Taxol in the US) is just as effective at combatting cancer. It appears to be less toxic than Taxotere.

It’s also a generic and cheaper. The choice for patients has not been about life or death, but between treatments that have more and fewer side effects and may cost less.

But Sanofi-Aventis apparently failed in its obligation to warn patients of the risk of permanent alopecia, perhaps because of a misunderstanding about the importance of hair or perhaps because of unexamined assumptions about the importance of patient’s psychological health.

Source Taxotore Hair Loss

Progress of Federal Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuits

Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuits Move Forward

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Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuits Move Forward

Plaintiffs involved in litigation revolving around permanent hair loss from the cancer drug Taxotere recently learned the first case in their multi-district litigation has been set for trial in September 2018.

The plaintiffs involved in the litigation have claimed that they were not warned prior to taking Taxotere that it could cause alopecia, a medical condition in which the immune system attacks hair follicles, resulting in hair loss.

While hair loss is often a common occurrence with chemotherapy, plaintiffs have alleged that Taxotere is far more likely to cause permanent alopecia compared to other equally effective cancer drugs.

Taxotere was introduced by Sanofi-Aventis in 1996.

It was approved in the U.S. for the treatment of various cancers: breast cancer, advanced stomach cancer, head and neck cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and metastatic prostate cancer.

Following the expiration of Sanofi’s patent in 2010, the FDA approved marketing of the generic version of Taxotere – docetaxel – the following year.

It wasn’t until 2015 that permanent alopecia was first included as a possible Taxotere side effect was on the drug’s U.S. labeling. Plaintiffs in the MDL have cited several studies, which allegedly demonstrate that Sanofi was aware of the potential for permanent alopecia for years before the label was modified.

It has also been noted by plaintiffs that the European medical community was informed of this risk in 2005, and the Canadian Taxotere label had undergone a similar modification in 2012.

Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuits

Taxotere Hair Loss

According to studies, the risk of permanent alopecia resulting from taking Taxotere is between 6 and 10 percent. Many of the plaintiffs have claimed that they could have taken other equally effective chemotherapy drugs that wouldn’t have resulted in permanent hair loss, but were never warned of the risks by their oncologists.

The trauma of permanent hair loss for cancer patients is severe, a constant reminder that they remain victims of the disease.

At Saunders & Walker, we continue represent patients harmed by dangerous drugs and defective medical devices.

If you or a loved has taken Taxotere for cancer treatment, and it resulted in permanent hair loss, please contact us immediately for a free consultation.

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Taxotere Hair Loss Lawsuit

Taxotere Hair Loss Litigation Continues to Grow

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Taxotere Hair Loss Litigation Continues to Grow, with 1,270+ Lawsuits Pending in Federal Multidistrict Litigation

At least 156 new Taxotere lawsuits have been filed in federal court on behalf of cancer survivors who allegedly experienced permanent hair loss following treatment with the widely-used chemotherapy agent.

According to an update issued today by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML), there are currently 1,272 cases pending in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, where all federally-filed Taxotere hair loss claims have been centralized for the purpose of coordinated proceedings.

The JPML’s previous updated indicated that 1,116 cases had been filed in the litigation as of June 15th.

Taxotere and Hair Loss

Taxotere is manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis and was approved to treat breast cancer by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996.

The chemotherapy drug has since been approved to treat other cancers, including head and neck cancer, gastric cancer, prostate cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

Hair Loss Taxotere

While hair loss commonly occurs during chemotherapy, pla­intiffs pursuing these claims charge that alopecia associated with Taxotere is far more likely to be permanent compared with other, equally effective medications.

Mention of permanent alopecia as a possible Taxotere side effect was not included on the drug’s U.S. labeling until December 2015.

Plaintiffs cite several studies which allegedly demonstrate that Sanofi was aware of the potential for persistent alopecia years before the label was modified.

They also point out that that the European medical community was informed of this risk in 2005, while the Canadian Taxotere label underwent a similar modification in 2012.

Taxotere Bellwether Trials

The federal Taxotere litigation was established in October 2016. Initially, just 33 hair loss claims were transferred to the Eastern District of Louisiana.

According to a report from the Louisiana Record, the federal litigation could convene the first Taxotere bellwether trial in September 2018.

These “test” trials are common in large, cohttp://www.rxinjuryhelp.com/news/2017/07/17/taxotere-hair-loss-litigation-continues-to-grow-with-1270-lawsuits-pending-in-federal-multidistrict-litigation/mplex litigation, and often involve lawsuits representative of other cases pending in the proceeding. They are intended to gauge the strength of plaintiffs’ claims, and often provide insight into how juries might rule in other lawsuits involving similar questions of facts.

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