Sanofi, Sandoz Beat Cancer Patients’ Taxotere Hair Loss Suits

Sanofi-Aventis and Sandoz defeated lawsuits by breast cancer patients who didn’t show that a warning about permanent hair loss would have changed their doctors’ decisions to prescribe Taxotere or a generic equivalent, under rulings from the Fifth Circuit and a Louisiana federal trial court.

Taxotere maker Sanofi-Aventis US Services Inc. was properly granted summary judgment in June Phillips’ lawsuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said Monday.

Her oncologist testified that an additional warning regarding permanent hair loss hasn’t altered his risk-benefit assessment of Taxotere and wouldn’t have changed his decision to use the drug to treat ...