Have you developed watery eyes after taking Taxotere? Have you been diagnosed with serious eye conditions that required medical treatment and caused you significant physical and emotional distress? If you’ve been harmed by dangerous or defective medications, you deserve to seek compensation from the pharmaceutical company.
Docetaxel, known by the brand name of Taxotere, is a chemotherapy medication sold by the pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis. Taxotere works by shrinking tumors and cancer cells, stopping cancer from spreading to the lymph nodes and other parts of the body. Taxotere is primarily used to treat breast cancers but is sometimes prescribed for other types of cancer.
Although Taxotere successfully treated many patients’ cancers, some patients began experiencing excessively watery eyes during their chemo treatments that would not get better even after finishing chemo. Unfortunately, researchers have since discovered that Taxotere use can cause uncontrollable watery eyes. This excessive eye watering, together with Taxotere, damages ocular tissues.
Some Taxotere patients who have developed excessively watery eyes have filed lawsuits against Sanofi-Aventis. They allege that Sanofi-Aventis knew that Taxotere could cause these adverse side effects but failed to disclose these risks to physicians and their patients.
Turn to the Raleigh, NC Taxotere watery eyes lawsuit attorneys at Hotze Runkle PLLC for help in obtaining financial recovery for your injuries, medical expenses, and pain and suffering.
Watery Eyes Caused by Taxotere
If you’ve been put on a Taxotere treatment at Duke Raleigh Hospital, UNC REX hospital, or another facility and have since suffered from watery eyes, you may be experiencing adverse side effects as a result of your chemotherapy. Watery eyes can result from all kinds of Taxotere treatment regimens.
Excessively watery eyes may result in a condition known as epiphora. Epiphora comes from chronic inflammation of the canaliculus, a structure of the eye. Epiphora can lead to eye-watering that becomes so excessive that a person’s vision is affected. Epiphora can be so severe that reading may be difficult, and driving may be unsafe. The inflammation caused by epiphora can interrupt the flow of tears and lead to permanent damage and a condition called canalicular stenosis.
Can Watery Eyes Caused by Taxotere Be Cured?
Watery eyes, or epiphora, can sometimes be naturally caused by allergies or common viral infections. In these types of cases, the condition generally clears up on its own over time. However, epiphora arising as a side effect of Taxotere use typically results in a far more serious condition that requires medical intervention.
If epiphora caused by Taxotere goes untreated, it can lead to an infection that develops into canalicular stenosis. Canalicular stenosis involves a closing of the canaliculus, a tube through which tears flow. There are four canaliculi, one in each eyelid. Once the canaliculus fully closes, the structure will be permanently blocked. A permanent blockage cannot be fixed, but invasive treatment options can help mitigate the symptoms.
When the condition is caught early enough, permanent canalicular stenosis can be prevented through a surgical procedure involving the implanting of stents that stop the canaliculi from closing completely.
How Taxotere Causes Canalicular Stenosis
Taxotere has weekly, biweekly, or every-three-weeks treatment regimens, depending on the stage and type of cancer being treated. No matter the frequency of treatments, using Taxotere can cause a blockage in the flow of tears through the canaliculus. Once a person completes their Taxotere treatment regiment, if they are still suffering from excessively watery eyes, that’s a good sign the person is suffering from some level of obstruction in their canaliculi.
Taxotere causes this blockage due to the way that the drug interacts with bodily fluids. Unfortunately, when the drug’s ingredients get into tears, the tissues in the canaliculus become inflamed and block tears from naturally flowing. Left untreated, the canaliculus will eventually completely and permanently close.
Unfortunately, Sanofi-Aventis, the company that manufactures and sells Taxotere, may have known that the drug can result in excessive watery eyes and canalicular stenosis and failed to advise doctors and patients of the risk of this serious side effect. As a result, patients who took Taxotere did so without being able to fully evaluate the risks of the treatment. Had they been aware of those risks, they could have undergone preventative procedures that can avoid complications from canalicular stenosis.
How You Can Treat Canalicular Stenosis
If caught early enough, a person may avoid permanent blockage from canalicular stenosis by undergoing surgery to implant stents in their canaliculi to keep the channels open.
Although a fully blocked canaliculus cannot be unblocked, other treatment options can help manage the symptoms of canalicular stenosis. One option involves a surgery known as a dacryocystorhinostomy, or DCR. DCR involves creating new structures around the eye to allow tears to bypass the closed canaliculi.
Conjunctivodacryocystorhinostomy, or CDCR, is another treatment option. When the ocular structures can no longer support the flow of tears, CDCR is indicated. In this procedure, an ocular surgeon implants a small tube in place of the closed canaliculi that allows tears to drain.
Both DCR and CDCR can require additional future procedures to help maintain the alternative structures created by the surgery. Of course, ocular surgery comes with certain risks of complications, such as infection, scarring, damage to the ocular or nasal structures, or partial or total blindness.
How You Can Recover Compensation
If you’ve suffered from excessively watery eyes or canalicular stenosis, you may be entitled to seek compensation for your injuries and for the losses and harm that you’ve suffered. Losses you might be able to recover include:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages and earnings for missed time from work
- Lost earning capacity if you can no longer work
- Disfigurement and disability
- Physical pain and emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment or quality of life
Under North Carolina law, you have three years to file a lawsuit against Sanofi-Aventis to recover compensation for your losses. The three-year period begins on the date that you discovered that you’ve been harmed by taking Taxotere. However, no matter how long it may take you to discover that you’ve been injured by Taxotere, you may not file suit more than 12 years after taking the drug.
At Hotze Runkle PLLC, our Raleigh Taxotere watery eyes lawsuit attorneys will aggressively pursue fair and full compensation on your behalf. We want to help you recover the expenses that you’ve had to incur due to your injuries and to provide you with some measure of justice for your pain and suffering and lost quality of life. We will fight to obtain a monetary award for you either through a fair and full settlement or by taking your claim against Sanofi-Aventis to trial.
Why a Raleigh Taxotere Lawsuit Attorney from Hotze Runkle PLLC Can Help You
Undergoing cancer treatment has already had a significant impact on your quality of life. The normal side effects of chemotherapy can prevent you from being able to work, take care of tasks of daily living, or enjoy activities. You shouldn’t also have to suffer serious and permanent injury as a side effect of taking Taxotere, which was supposed to be a remedy for your condition.
Pursuing a claim for compensation against a big global corporation like Sanofi-Aventis can seem like a daunting and stressful endeavor. Fortunately, you don’t have to take them by yourself. Let the Raleigh Taxotere watery eyes lawsuit attorneys at Hotze Runkle PLLC handle all the hard work in pursuing your legal claim. That way, you can stay focused on recovering from the harm you’ve suffered due to taking Taxotere and on getting back to a more normal life.
When you choose Hotze Runkle PLLC to help you with your Raleigh, NC Taxotere lawsuit, you can trust that we will handle each stage of your claim. We’ll make sure that you understand your legal rights and options and advise you on what to expect at every step of the case. We will answer any questions that you may have during the course of your case and will keep you updated on your claim’s progress.
Find Out If You Have a Taxotere Lawsuit Claim
Recovering from cancer can be difficult enough on its own. You don’t deserve to suffer further due to the harm inflicted by serious and potentially permanent side effects from Taxotere. You’ve been further harmed by the fact that Sanofi-Aventis likely hid knowledge of the risks of these side effects from you and your doctor. This lack of knowledge prevented you from seeking out treatment that could have helped you to avoid permanent damage. The law allows you to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible when they recklessly and intentionally put harmful products onto the market.
If you’ve taken Taxotere, you may be entitled to seek financial compensation if you’ve suffered adverse side effects from the drug. At Hotze Runkle PLLC, we work diligently to hold Sanofi-Aventis accountable for the harm and injury inflicted on unsuspecting patients. Our clients are patients who trusted the pharmaceutical company to ensure that the drugs they put on the market were safe for use. You can trust that we will do everything we can to pursue maximum compensation on your behalf.
To find out if you’re eligible for compensation for your Taxotere-related injuries, take our quiz today.