Sanofi Taxotere Verdict Axed by Fifth Cir. for Improper Evidence

Sanofi U.S. Services Inc. faces a new trial in a woman’s suit alleging the breast cancer drug Taxotere caused permanent hair loss, as the Fifth Circuit said Thursday that the drugmaker’s evidence disputing causation shouldn’t have been admitted.

Barbara Earnest alleged that Sanofi failed to warn that hair loss, a common side effect of chemotherapy, could be permanent when using Taxotere. In 2019, a federal jury in Lousiana rejected her arguments that Taxotere was responsible.

Earnest, whose case was the first in federal multidistrict proceedings to be tried, was prejudiced by improper “quasi-expert” testimony that was offered as lay witness ...