Facing a cancer diagnosis and a lengthy treatment regimen is a challenging experience, full of ups and downs every step of the way. That experience is even more challenging if you developed an unexpected and serious ocular condition as a result of taking the chemotherapy drug, Taxotere.
If you or a loved one was given Taxotere (docetaxel) as part of your chemotherapy treatment and you developed a permanent ocular condition called canalicular stenosis, the Portland drug attorneys of Hotze Runkle PLLC may be able to help you secure financial compensation.
Canalicular stenosis is characterized by excessive eye-watering, as well as eye irritation, blurriness, itchiness, and more. On the surface, severe eye-watering may seem like a minor side effect, but this is far from the truth. Victims are often unable to complete a number of daily tasks such as reading, driving, putting on makeup, or doing their job due to obscured vision. The impression of emotional tears can cause embarrassment, anxiety, and other emotional distress, leading to a decrease in quality of life. In severe cases, canalicular stenosis may require major surgery and a lifetime of care.
Sadly, canalicular stenosis is preventable. If patients and doctors had been aware of the side effects of Taxotere, they could have monitored their patients for the development of early symptoms and prevented the permanent condition from developing.
The Portland Taxotere lawsuit lawyers at Hotze Runkle PLLC are currently representing cancer survivors all over the country in lawsuits against Sanofi-Aventis. Hotze Runkle PLLC wants you to know that there is hope. When a drug company places profits over the health and well-being of cancer patients, they need to be held responsible. To see if you have a case and are eligible to join the thousands of other victims in a lawsuit against Sanofi, take our quiz today.
How Hotze Runkle PLLC Can Help
If you have suffered due to a drug company’s negligent actions, you need an experienced and knowledgeable lawyer by your side. Handling these types of cases on your own is not only ill-advised but nearly impossible. Defective drug claims are incredibly complex, and in most cases, are part of a larger lawsuit spanning multiple victims and jurisdictions. Along with navigating this complex system, a Portland Taxotere attorney will build and present the strongest possible case to ensure you receive maximum compensation for your injuries.
At Hotze Runkle PLLC, we want you to know that you are not alone in your suffering, and you have legal options. We have decades of combined experience representing victims in mass tort cases. We will treat your case with the care and attention it deserves, keeping you updated every step of the way. Our attorneys are not afraid to take on multibillion-dollar corporations and their team of high-powered attorneys.
If you are eligible for joining the mass tort lawsuit against Sanofi-Aventis, you can rest assured that our attorneys have your best interest in heart and won’t stop until we’ve recovered every dollar you deserve. We won’t back down, and we won’t just accept the first settlement to claim victory and move on.
What Is Taxotere?
Sold under the brand name Taxotere, docetaxel is an anti-cancer chemotherapy drug used by doctors to treat a variety of cancers, including breast, lung, prostate, stomach, head, and neck. It is one of the most popular drugs used to treat early-stage breast cancer, operable node-positive breast cancer, and metastatic breast cancer.
Administered intravenously every week, two weeks, or three weeks, Taxotere is a plant alkaloid that extends a patient’s life by stopping tumors from growing and spreading. Docetaxel damages cancer cell skeletons, stunting their growth. Unfortunately, the drug is linked to a number of side effects that negatively impact a person’s health and emotional health.
Taxotere is manufactured, distributed, and marketed by the pharmaceutical company, Sanofi-Aventis. It was approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996; however, its connection to excessive tearing and watery eyes was discovered as early as 2000. Still, Sanofi marketed the drug without telling the truth about its side effects to oncologists and patients, placing innocent patients at risk of developing canalicular stenosis. If you were given Taxotere and developed excessive tearing, you may be able to join the ongoing mass tort case.
What Are Some Common Side Effects of Taxotere?
For more than 20 years, doctors have used Taxotere to treat a variety of cancer types, saving hundreds of thousands of lives along the way. In many cases, Taxotere has been effective when earlier treatment regimens failed. Like many drugs, there are side effects associated with Taxotere, including permanent hair loss (alopecia) and the permanent closure of the lower and upper canaliculi (canalicular stenosis).
While the patients who take Taxotere on a weekly basis have the highest risk of developing canalicular stenosis, patients on any regimen can potentially develop the ocular disease. Some symptoms of this condition include:
- Excessive tearing and eye-watering
- Blurred vision
- Eye infections and chronic irritation
- Loss of vision (cystoid macular edema)
- Sensitivity to light
- Headaches
- Dry eyes (keratoconjunctivitis sicca)
- Swollen eyelids
Because tears disrupt a person’s vision, it can negatively impact their lives in a number of ways. Victims report that they are unable to read, drive a car, put on makeup, or even continue working. On top of physical ailments, the false impression that one is crying due to sadness or other emotions causes embarrassment and emotional distress. Along with compensation for your medical bills and physical harm, we will also pursue damages for emotional pain and suffering, as well.
What Is Canalicular Stenosis?
The unfortunate reality for many victims, and one of the reasons we are taking legal action against Sanofi-Aventis, is that canalicular stenosis could have been avoided in many cases had the company disclosed the risks of taking Taxotere. Excessive eye-watering caused by Taxotere was a known side effect as early as 2000 and has been documented in dozens of medical journals that all say the same thing: through early intervention and monitoring by an ophthalmologist, excessive tearing can be managed, therefore preventing the development of canalicular stenosis and the need for surgery.
How does it develop? To keep your eyes lubricated, the human eye uses a system of ducts and sacs to continually create tears. When Taxotere enters the body intravenously, it gets secreted into the tear film. Over time, the canaliculi become inflamed, scarred, blocked, and eventually, closed. Once closed, the damage is irreversible and requires surgery, where doctors create a new channel and/or insert permanent glass tubes to shunt tears through the ducts.
How Much Is My Case Worth?
The actual amount of financial damages you are eligible for and can receive depends entirely on the details of your condition and the severity of the symptoms you developed after receiving Taxotere. If those symptoms were mild and didn’t require major surgery, the amount will be less than those who required expensive operations or experienced serious complications.
We’ll go over the specifics of your case to determine how much it’s worth. This includes the severity of your side effects, the duration of your treatment, whether or not you underwent surgery, time away from work due to recovery, and overall changes to your quality of life.
How Can Hotze Runkle PLLC Help?
It’s been almost 25 years since Sanofi-Aventis created and released Taxotere to the market. And while the drug has been successful in treating breast and other types of cancers, the drug company failed to disclose the details about potential side effects, giving doctors and patients no warning or chance to treat symptoms before they advanced and caused permanent damage.
With almost 10,000 pending lawsuits already filed against Sanofi-Aventis, Hotze Runkle PLLC wants to help every individual victimized by this negligent drug company seek justice. We will do everything in our power and use every available resource to give you and your family a fighting chance at recovering financial compensation to cover medical bills, lost wages, and other damages.
Before calling and talking with a legal representative about a consultation, be sure to take our quiz to make sure you are eligible for legal action. If so, the Portland Taxotere lawyers guarantee that you and your family will be treated with the respect and compassion you deserve. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so take the first step today by taking our quiz.