In a case management order issued on April 17, Judge Jane Triche Milazzo presiding over all Taxotere hair loss lawsuits announced a schedule for the first bellwether trial in the litigation scheduled for September 2019.
According to the announced schedule, all supplemental motions and briefs must be submitted by June 4, a final witness list by July 3, jury questionnaire by July 12, and motions in Limine to be filed by July 16. A final pretrial order has been scheduled for August 23, and a final pretrial conference will be held on August 30.
There are more than 12,000 product liability claims filed against Taxotere manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventis, each raising similar allegations that the chemotherapy drug causes permanent hair loss in several women, which was not the case with other equally effective breast cancer treatment methods. The lawsuits are centralized in the Eastern District of Louisiana, as part of a federal Multidistrict Litigation (MDL No. 2740; In Re: Taxotere (Docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation).
