TAXOTERE MASS TORT LEAD GENERATION

We provide taxotere mass tort lead generation for attorneys seeking individuals who have been prescribed Taxotere (Dosetaxel) while being treated for cancer, and have suffered complications, specifically including hair loss, baldness, or alopecia.

The most popular method attorneys choose when pursuing these claimants is from web-based forms. We have also generated high quality and exclusive leads from broadcast media platforms.

Regarding web-based leads, claimants complete a form online from a landing page.  This can come from an online search or from paid advertisements. These claimants have been qualified to have the following information:

• Claimant ingested Taxotere following prescription by a doctor
• Claimant experienced hair loss, baldness, or alopecia
• Year of harm is within Statute of Limitations or time frame
  requested
• Claimant has not hired representation
• Details of experience or injury wherein victim-lead can
  describe the specific situation

We provide an exchange policy in our agreements that allow unqualified leads to be returned for another lead.  To obtain an exchange, please email the details of the lead including reason for replacement.  Typically, requests are granted the same day.

All leads are exclusive to the purchasing law firm or attorney, not shared with other firms.  This has always been our standard practice.

The next method of lead generation for defective drug and defective medical device leads is television media and ready-to-go advertisements.  This is based upon a pay-per-call platform in which the attorney pays for inbound calls that meet the specified filters.

For more information, including sample leads, please contact us.

Customization of leads also is available.

WHY LAWYERS PURSUE TAXOTERE CLAIMS FOR MASS TORT LEAD GENERATION

What is Taxotere?

Why Lawyers File Taxotere Lawsuits

Taxotere Studies and Permanent Hair Loss

Taxotere Lawsuits and Claims

WHAT IS TAXOTERE?

TAXOTERE
AND
FAILURE TO WARN:

WHAT PATIENTS NEED TO KNOW

Taxotere (docetaxel) is an injectable chemotherapy medication manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis.

The FDA approved Taxotere in 1996.  The drug generated more than $3 billion in sales in 2008, and became the most prescribed in its class in 2009.  It has since lost its patent protection.

Approximately 300,000 women are diagnosed with cancer every year.  Although the drug has gained popularity as one of the primary treatment options for breast cancer, it is prescribed for lung, prostate, stomach, and head and neck cancer, pursuant to subsequent approvals.

Taxotere in injected by way of IV typically every 3 weeks, and works by impeding the advancement of cancer cells. The advantage Taxotere presents is a decrease in the frequency of treatment compared to paclitaxel, another drug in the same class.  Comparatively, paclitaxel requires weekly injections. Although it is a drug of higher convenience, some studies show paclitaxel is equally effective.
Unfortunately, Taxotere can result in decreased blood cell counts, which further results in decreasing the body’s ability to fight infections and decreased blood clotting capability. The medication can also be harmful if exposed to the skin, such as during treatment.

What many patients consider to be the most harmful complication linked to Taxotere is permanent hair loss, or alopecia.  This has been labeled as a disfiguring side effect that, in many cases, has lasted for a decade or longer.  Patients have experienced metal anguish, depression and distress, and decreased quality of life from the negative body image effectuated from the permanent hair loss.

Now, breast cancer patients who took Taxotere are filing claims against Sanofi for failure to warn actions.  Claimants say the company knew of the severe and life-changing complications, but failed to disclose the fact that a permanent and toxic side effect was a measureable possibility.  Not to mention, evidence strongly suggests plaintiff’s may be correct regarding the manufacturer’s knowledge of the long-term disfiguring complication. And they have a good argument . . .

You see, European-based health organizations were made aware alopecia’s association with Taxotere in 2005, and Canadian patients became aware as far back as 2015.  Meanwhile, Sanofi alerted the FDA in December of 2015.  Reasons for the delay are not clear.  Hopefully more answers are made available as MDL 2740 has been approved in the United States District Court for Eastern District of Louisiana.

WHY LAWYERS FILE TAXOTERE LAWSUITS AND PURSUE MASS TORT MARKETING AND ATTORNEY LEAD GENERATION

The first woman to file a claim against Sanofi for permanent hair loss was Ami Dodson.  She had a partial mastectomy following detection of a breast tumor that was discovered from a biopsy in early 2010.  As part of her cancer treatment, Ms. Dodson took Taxotere.  Unfortunately, neither she nor her doctor had knowledge of the permanent hair loss she would endure.

Alopecia is an expected side effect with chemotherapy treatment, and attacking cancer cells in general.  However, Taxotere has alternatives that have less severe side effects.  Thus, with no warning comes no preparation for the unexpected and debilitating complications that follow.

And, that prevents the opportunity for a patient to make an informed choice, an important aspect every patient deserves.

Many cancer patients do not want to live the rest of their lives with the constant reminder of the life threatening struggle they faced while battling the often fatal disease.  The emotional, physical, and financial toll these women faced gets extended for years after the battle against cancer should have been won.

TAXOTER LAWSUITS AND CLAIMS

Understandably, patients who have experienced hair loss and were not warned about the permanent side effect have filed lawsuits, asserting multiple claims.  The reasons for the claims include:

• Not demonstrating the medication was safe
• Improper testing of the medication
• Misleading promotional advertising of the medication
• Failure to properly disclose permanent side effects
• Manufacturing a dangerous drug
• Devaluing the risks linked to the medication

CLINICAL STUDY LEADS MEDICAL COMMUNITY TO CONCLUDE
PATIENTS SUFFERED FROM ALOPECIA WHEN TAKING TAXOTERE

In December of 2015, an alert regarding FDA Safety Information was released, stating that Taxotere labeling information may include the language: “Cases of permanent alopecia have been reported.”

There have been two studies often cited regarding Taxotere and its association with permanent hair loss, or alopecia.

• GEICAM 9805 is the first, which was sponsored by Sanofi in 2005 and conducted by a Spanish non-profit scientific organization. The study revealed that 2% of female cancer patients who consumed the medication endured permanent alopecia.  Some hair loss cases lasted as long as 10 years following chemotherapy.  The study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
• Scot Sedlacek conducted a Taxotere study in 2006 at the Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers in Denver, Colorado. Results concluded that us much as6.3% of patients administered Taxotere witnessed persistent significant alopecia (PSA).  A stronger correlation of hair loss was experienced when combined with Adriamycin and Cyclophosphamide.  Dr. Sedlacek indicates PSA to be confirmed when hair regrowth is below half of the pre-chemotherapy amount of hair.  Further, he indicated that the “one side effect possibly most dreaded by the patient is alopecia.  Yet, we have always told our female patients don’t worry, it will always come back.  This last statement may not be true.”
• In 2009, another study was conducted on 82 patients by French oncologist HuguesBorgeois at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Regarding Persistent Significant Alopecia when going through chemotherapy, he stated that the complication is an “important side effect and must be considered by oncologists as optimal information to give to curable patients.”

In 2010, the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology released a study that suggested there was an increase in the amount of reports of permanent hair loss associated with chemotherapy, and mentioned that “docetaxel [Taxotere] is the implicated agent.”

There were “distressing psychological
consequences in the patient’s lives”

-OXFORD JOURNAL ANNALS OF ONCOLOLY,
when discussing study linking alopecia with talc use

In 2012, the Oxford Journal Annals of Oncology conducted a clinical study regarding permanent hair loss associated with the “FEC 100-docetaxel breast cancer regimen” between 2007 and 2011.  Results from the twenty women who were a part of the study included hair loss “with a moderate or intense androgenic-like pattern of scalp alopecia.”  The study also noted that there were “distressing psychological consequences in the patient’s lives” and noted that there was an absence of “spontaneous regrowth of the scalp hair.”  The study came to the conclusion that “[p]ermanent and severe alopecia is a newly reported complication of the FEC 100-100 docetaxel breast cancer regimen.”

TAXOTERE LEADS TO MDL – 2740 PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION

Lawsuits have been filed by patients who witnessed alopecia (permanent hair loss) while using Taxotere for chemotherapy, based upon the premise that Defendant Sanofi-Aventis was aware of the risk of hair loss, yet did not disclose the warning until December 2015 when the FDA approved the disclosure on labels.  Studies have pointed towards Sanofi to being aware that 3% of patients who were administered the drug experience alopecia.

Notably, the warning labels strategically stated that hair “generally grows back” after the conclusion of chemotherapy treatment.  That is disturbing seeing how the drug label was updated in 2005 within Europe, was updated in 2012 in Canada, and not given to American-based patients until late 2015.

On Monday, October 24, 2016,an order was obtained from the Multidistrict Litigation Panel that transferred civil lawsuits related to Taxotere to the Eastern District of Louisiana. The Honorable Judge Lance M. Africkwas listed as the judge assigned MDL – 2740 for pretrial proceedings, stating it is his first MDL.

Notably, the MDL appears to be handled by the Honorable Kurt D. Engelhardt, as he is listed as the judge signing the pretrial orders

At the time of the transfer order, the MDL was based upon thirty-three cases from sixteen districts.  Interestingly, the panel was made aware of fifty-six related cases pending in twenty-five districts.

The reasons for the MDL were listed as follows:

• There were common questions of fact, including that the chemotherapy medication, Taxotere (docetaxel), results in permanent alopecia, the defendants knew about the negative side effect and failed to disclose this to patient-victims, and that the drug was promoted as a drug that was “more effective than other chemotherapy drugs when other drugs were equally effective without the associated permanent hair loss.”
• The Eastern District of Louisiana is convenient for parties, witnesses, and promote fairness and efficiency
• An MDL will prevent duplicate discovery, inconsistent pretrial judgments, and preserve the all parties, including the court’s, resources.

Other important pretrial orders are below:

• November 17, 2016: The Honorable Judge Engelhardtissued Pretrial Order No. 2 that appointed Plaintiff’s Liaison Counsel. It includes Dawn Barrios of Barrios,Kingsdorf & Casteix, LLP, and Palmer Lambert of Gainsburgh Benjamin David Meunier & Warshauer, LLC. Both firms are based in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• December 13, 2016: Judge Engelhardt filed Pretrial Order No. 5 (“Direct Filing”), which stated that “any plaintiff whose case would be subject to transfer to MDL No. 2740, and that could have been filed in any United States District Court, may instead directly file a complaint in the Eastern District of Louisiana.” The order further required that “any complaint that is filed directly in the Eastern District of Louisiana, pursuant to this Order, shall be filed as a new civil action through the Court’s electronic filing system.”

TAXOTERE
&
MDL 2740

WHERE ARE WE TODAY?

• December 30, 2016: Pretrial Order No. 8 was filed, which appointed Dawn Barrios as Plaintiff’s Federal-State Liaison Counsel “to interact between this Court and any court and litigant outside this MDL in an effort to coordinate the different litigations and foster cooperation between them.” In addition, the order stated that all cases filed under MDL 2740 that originates from another district will be consolidated only for pretrial proceedings.  Relatedly once pretrial proceedings, have finished each of those cases will be transferred “to the federal district court for the district where the plaintiff allegedly was injured or where plaintiff resided at the time of his or her alleged injury.”

• January 11, 2017: The United States District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana filed Pretrial Order No. 10 regarding clarification about the scope of the Taxotere MDL. The Honorable Sarah S. Vance, Chair of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, replied to the Judge Engelhardt’s inquiry whether MDL 2740 “was intended to include within its scope only cases against the Sanofi brand entities or cases against all manufacturers of docetaxel.”  Her reply to the court stated that the intent was “to include cases against non-Sanofi/generic manufacturers of docetaxel that allege common issues” and “concluded that they shared sufficient factual questions (allegations of a common injury after taking the drug) with MDL 2740.”

WE PROVIDE PERSONAL INJURY LEADS AND
QUALITY MASS TORT LEAD GENERATION