When will the Taxotere Lawsuit Be Settled for Eye Injuries?

How the Taxotere Lawsuits Started

Taxotere has been approved for use by the FDA since 1996, prescribed primarily as a chemotherapy drug.

The manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventis, initially intended for Taxotere to be used as a treatment for breast cancer.

However, it’s been also used for treating lung cancer, prostate cancer, stomach cancer, and others.

Thanks to how effective it was, Taxotere became one of the go-to chemotherapy drugs for breast cancer treatment.

Even today, the medication remains the drug of choice for millions of breast cancer patients.

However, due to how the drug works against cells in the body, Taxotere has many severe side effects.

Those who have received the treatment have experienced permanent alopecia as well as vision issues.

While the FDA mandated Sanofi-Aventis to update the Taxotere warning label to warn about the severe side effects, it was too late.

Many people have already suffered permanent hair loss, eye problems, and other issues that affect their way of life.

To get justice and receive compensation for the damages they suffered, victims have filed cases against Sanofi-Aventis and the drug.

As of writing, there are more than 10,000 Taxotere lawsuits.

In these cases, plaintiffs allege that Sanofi failed to warn doctors and patients soon enough about the possible side effects.

If the victims win the case, the company will need to pay settlement awards.

Taxotere Lawsuit Update: Current Timeline

Here is a breakdown of the most significant Taxotere Lawsuit developments.

2015:

• In 2015, FDA issued a label revision mandate to Sanofi after patients treated with Taxotere faced an increased risk of permanent hair loss and visual damage.

2016:

Even though Sanofi followed suit with the FDA mandate, the action was too late.

Many victims were already suffering permanent hair loss.

This event led to plaintiffs filing lawsuits against Sanofi, alleging that the company failed to include sufficient warnings about the severe side effects of Taxotere.

To quickly process thousands of cases, the Eastern District of Louisiana approved the Taxotere MDL.

The first bellwether trial for the MDL was conducted in 2019.

March 2022

Along with hair loss, there were many reports of Taxotere causing eye injuries.

The number of patients filing cases led to the creation of the Taxotere eye injury MDL.

August 2022

In August, Sanofi filed a motion to dismiss the eye injury cases.

Judge Milazzo ruled in favor of the defendant on the grounds that the plaintiffs failed to state a claim.

Thankfully, it was not over for the victims.

December 2022

In the same month the MDL was dismissed, an appeals court overturned Judge Milazzo’s decision.

The fight goes on for the plaintiffs of the Taxotere vision damage lawsuits.

February 2023

We’re back to the latest updates. On February 13, 2023, Judge Milazzo gave another pre-trial order.

It requested the application and nomination of liaison counsel for the defendants.

This is a good sign that the MDL is on its way to resolution.

How Does Taxotere Work?

To understand why the cancer drug Taxotere has such severe consequences on the body, we have to first examine what it does to cancer cells.

The drug is a microtubule inhibitor as labeled by Sanofi.

In other words, the medication disrupts how a cell’s skeleton works by making it rigid.

This stiffness prevents cancer cells from multiplying until they all die off.

Thanks to this effect, Taxotere is recognized as a highly effective chemo drug.

Unfortunately, Taxotere targets all kinds of cells, not just the cancerous ones.

It affects cell reproduction in sensitive areas like the scalp and the eyes.

For this reason, chemotherapy treatments could result in permanent hair loss and a host of eye issues.

Side Effects of Taxotere as a Cancer Treatment

The Impact of Taxotere on the Body

Taxotere, a common chemotherapy drug, has numerous negative effects on the body.

These effects range from temporary discomfort to permanent damage, significantly affecting the quality of life of patients.

Here are some effects of Taxotere:

• Immediate Reactions:  Due to how Taxotere behaves, it causes a wide variety of negative effects on the body. Patients can experience rashes and itching on the skin, breathing difficulties, fever, and swelling in the face and lips. These reactions usually start immediately after the intravenous administration of Taxotere.
• Long-term Side Effects:  The more severe side effects happen weeks after the chemotherapy treatment began. One of the most well-known is alopecia or hair loss due to how the drug kills hair follicles. While most chemotherapy-induced alopecia is temporary, some patients suffer permanent hair loss.
• Legal Implications:  It’s thanks to this injury that we have the current hair loss litigation process. This has been a significant point of contention for patients who were not fully informed about the potential for permanent hair loss.

The other bodily systems that are sensitive to the effects of Taxotere are the eyes and lacrimal system.

The latter is the group of organs that produce tears.

In the most severe cases, these injuries can result in vision loss, watery eyes, and chronic pain that diminishes a person’s quality of life.

Here are some of the most cited eye injuries in the Taxotere vision loss lawsuit.

What To Do if You Believe You Have a Taxotere Case

While there is no set date yet for Taxotere litigation, we recommend that injured chemotherapy patients move quickly to file their claim.

If you suffered vision problems after taking Taxotere, contact us today for a free case evaluation.

Tru Lawsuit Info works primarily as a resource for victims, providing information about the Taxotere lawsuits and what you can do to get monetary compensation.

However, we also connect you with law firms that can help file a case and represent you in a court of law.

Get your free case evaluation now!