Taxotere is the popular name for Docetaxel. It is an FDA approved cancer drug that is administered via chemotherapy. While it is an effective therapy option, it has gained an unsavory reputation due to its unexpected side-effects. It is typical for cancer patients to experience a myriad of unpleasant symptoms after chemotherapy including extreme nausea, fatigue, and constipation among others.
In this case, the drug has been successfully argued to cause permanent hair loss in some breast cancer patients, primarily women.
History of the medication
The drug has been in use for close to two decades. Sanofi-Aventis market it. It is administered by direct injection into the veins. It works by stalling the growth of targeted cancer cells. The drug is popular as it is only used once every three weeks instead of the common equivalents, which have to be given weekly. The marketer initially claimed in the literature that hair grows back after treatment.
However, many studies on people who have previously used the medication many years later indicated that the drug is responsible for permanent baldness. The marketer has since updated the drug label to indicate that permanent hair loss has been reported as one of the side-effects you can get from using the cancer medication. The FDA has also issued two warnings to the manufacturer related to misleading marketing.
Early in 2016, the marketer was sued by victims for failure to disclose the devastating side-effects of the drug. The suit includes fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of warranty and negligence among other allegations on the part of the drug maker. The non-disclosure caused victims to use the drug without anticipating the given side-effects.
The applicants have put in a bagful of claims to be compensated for damages as a result of the severe injury caused by the side-effects. Some of the claims include past, ongoing and future medical expenses, cost of counseling and mental therapy, loss of earnings and earning capacity, permanent disfigurement, and incapacitating emotional agony among numerous others.
How to be a part of the lawsuit
Undergoing chemotherapy and beating breast cancer calls for a celebration. You should be in a position to move on and experience a tremendous improvement in your quality of life. If you fall into the same situation as the applicants, you are entitled to make an effective claim against the drug-maker and don’t miss the taxotere lawsuit deadline. A product liability lawyer can help you evaluate your application. They will give you an insightful review and consequently advise you on how to join the litigation.
Compensation
Even though the details are in the public domain, it is essential to establish injury caused by the use of the medication on an individual level. You have to be in a position to prove that using the drug has caused you irreparable harm. It is a classic mass tort lawsuit. This strategy enables you to claim reparation in the form of punitive and compensatory damages.
Numerous lawsuits have been filed, and hundreds more are expected to hit the court registries soon. Your lawyer can help you understand how to submit your application for the various types of damages. Bear in mind that it might take a tad bit of time to get the check once the settlement has been awarded in court. The lawsuit has attracted a lot of attention, and there is no shortage of lawyers looking to get in on the action.