Sanofi-Aventis Holds Onto Win in First Taxotere Test Trial

Sanofi-Aventis US LLC defeated a woman’s bid to upend a defense verdict in the first federal test trial over claims the cancer drug Taxotere caused permanent hair loss, as a federal trial court in Louisiana rejected the plaintiff’s evidentiary argument for a new trial.

Barbara Earnest alleged the drugmaker failed to warn that Taxotere caused permanent hair loss, but the jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana found for Sanofi last fall, rejecting her claims that Taxotere was responsible.

Earnest challenged the admission of testimony from a defense expert, oncologist Dr. John Glaspy. Glaspy relied ...