Plaintiff Denied New Trial Following Defense Verdict in Bellwether Taxotere Case

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge has refused to order a new trial following a defense verdict in the first Taxotere permanent hair loss case to go before a jury, ruling that the court did not erroneously admit certain evidence from Sanofi Aventis’ expert witness.

On Feb. 14, Judge Jane Triche Milazzo of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana found the expert’s reliance on a former Sanofi employee’s analysis of the TAX 316 clinical study was reasonable under Federal Rule of Evidence 703.

Barbara Earnest accused Sanofi Aventis of failing to warn that Taxotere …