Jury Clears Sanofi In The First Taxotere Bellwether Trial

Jury Clears Sanofi In The First Taxotere Bellwether Trial

Introduction

The first bellwether trial, underway in Louisiana federal court against Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC over claims that the chemotherapy drug Taxotere causes patients to lose hair permanently, resulted in the jury clearing the defendant manufacturers of liability.

The plaintiff, a Louisiana resident, filed the case in December 2016, after learning of the link between Taxotere and permanent hair loss through her brother who told her about lawyer advertisements for Taxotere lawsuits. In the complaint, Earnest claimed that her use of Taxotere from June 2011 to November 2011 caused "disfiguring permanent alopecia." The trial began on Sept. 16, and the jury after hearing closing arguments Thursday took less than two hours to clear Sanofi of liability. 

The trial is one of the thousands of cases before U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo in multidistrict litigation, MDL No. 2740, wherein plaintiffs allege that the drug caused permanent alopecia, a condition related to permanent hair loss. Other claims include failure to warn, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, and more. 

Several other pharmaceutical companies involved in the manufacturing and/or distribution of Taxotere or docetaxel, namely  Pfizer Inc., Hospira Inc., Actavis PLC, McKesson Corp face similar allegations.