In a case management order submitted on June 13, the U.S. District Judge Milazzo proposed a bellwether schedule for five Taxotere hair loss lawsuits slated to begin on May 13, 2019. Ahead of the bellwether trials, a general status conference has been scheduled for July 18, 2018.
The first case to go on trial would be selected from a pool of four lawsuits filed by Louisiana residents. Nearly 16 claims are ready for trial; another 24 more cases would be added by November 1, 2018. Cases for the second round of bellwether trials are to be finalized by January 11, 2019. The order also states, additional trials will be held starting September 16, 2019; January 27, 2020; May 11, 2020; and September 14, 2020.
The outcome of the "bellwether" trials will help assess how juries may react to certain evidence and testimony for other lawsuits related to the breast cancer drug Taxotere.
Over 5,600 product liability cases are filed against Sanofi-Aventis by women across the U.S. alleging that Taxotere used for chemotherapy led to their permanent hair loss. Taxotere lawsuits were initially centralized before Judge Kurt Engelhardt in the Eastern District of Louisiana as a part of a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No.2740; In Re: Taxotere (Docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation). The MDL was reassigned to Judge Jane Triche Milazzo when Judge Engelhardt was appointed as a Circuit Court Judge for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in May.
