Dupixent Skin Cancer Lawsuit Filed After Man Diagnosed With Mycosis Fungoides

Lawsuit claims that more than a year of Dupixent use resulted in no improvement to man’s eczema and an incurable cancer diagnosis.

The makers of Dupixent face a product liability lawsuit from a Colorado man who says he was diagnosed with cutaneous t-cell lymphoma (CTCL), a rare form of skin cancer linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, after use of the eczema treatment.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Carl P. Liverman in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey on October 12, naming Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, Genzyme Corporation and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. as the defendants.

Liverman claims the manufacturer knew about CTCL risks linked to the use of Dupixent yet failed to provide patients or their doctors with sufficient warnings.

Dupixent Skin Cancer Risks

Dupixent (dupilumab) was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017 for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, more commonly known as eczema. Since then, the agency has granted approval for the manufacturers to market Dupixent as a treatment for other inflammatory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

In recent months, questions have emerged about the drug’s safety profile, following studies linking Dupixent side effects primarily to CTCL, but also to other forms of T-cell lymphoma. Researchers warn that the rare form of cancer may go undetected because its symptoms appear similar to the eczema and other skin conditions Dupixent is designed to treat.

These findings have led to numerous Dupixent skin cancer lawsuits, each alleging that patients have developed CTCL as a result of Dupixent use, resulting in the need for harsh cancer treatments and life-long medical monitoring.

Mycosis Fungoides Allegations

According to the complaint, Liverman was prescribed Dupixent to treat his eczema in July 2022, receiving his first injection in August of that year. He continued to use Dupixent until February 2024, when his dermatologist removed him from the treatment.

The decision came after more than a year of use without any signs of his eczema improving. Doctors also raised cancer suspicions in December of that year. In May 2024, Liverman was diagnosed with mycosis fungoides, the most common form of CTCL.

The lawsuit indicates Liverman has undergone extensive treatments involving various medications, ultraviolet B phototherapy, topical corticosteroids and ongoing laboratory monitoring.

“Plaintiff, Carl P. Liverman, has been advised by his healthcare providers that he will likely require ongoing treatments and healthcare services for CTCL indefinitely. Plaintiff has been advised that the available therapies for his disease are palliative rather than curative, that the only potentially curative therapy is an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant, and that early stage CTCL progresses to late stage disease in up to 25 percent of patients.”

— Carl Liverman v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC et al.

Liverman indicates that had he and his doctor been warned about the potential cancer risks, he would have been prescribed, and used, a different treatment and avoided the CTCL diagnosis. As a result, he alleges he suffered severe bodily injury, pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life and medical expenses due to an incurable condition caused by the drug.

He raises allegations of failure to warn, negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation and negligent misrepresentation, while seeking both punitive and compensatory damages.

Dupixent Skin Cancer Lawsuits

The complaint will be consolidated with similar Dupixent skin cancer lawsuits in the District of New Jersey as a multidistrict litigation (MDL) before U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Qurashi for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

It is anticipated that Judge Qurashi will eventually order attorneys to prepare several representative cases for what are known as bellwether trials. These early test cases give counsel and the court the opportunity to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony that will make up key factors in potentially all Dupixent CTCL lawsuits.

These trials’ outcomes will have no legal bearing on other pending claims, but how the juries rule could help build the foundation of a potential Dupixent skin cancer lawsuit settlement agreement.

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