Taxotere Hair Loss Case Untimely, 5th Cir. Affirms

NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals panel has upheld dismissal of a Taxotere (docetaxel) permanent hair loss case, agreeing with the trial court that the claims are untimely and that Louisiana’s equitable tolling doctrine of contra non valentem does not save the claims.

In a June 9 opinion, the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel explained that the plaintiff’s alleged injury was apparent six months after her last chemotherapy treatment, yet she failed to sue Sanofi Aventis until years later.

“As a matter of law, the injury of ‘an absence of or incomplete hair regrowth six months beyond the …