A Maryland woman has filed a breast cancer drug lawsuit against the makers of Taxotere, Sanofi Aventis, citing permanent and disfiguring alopecia.

Plaintiff Lisa B. was diagnosed in April 2013 with invasive ductal carcinoma in her left breast. She underwent breast biopsies and then, as a result, agreed to undergo a double mastectomy on Oct. 22, 2013.

After her surgery, Lisa followed up with her oncologist to discuss chemotherapy options. According to this breast cancer drug lawsuit, Lisa decided to undergo chemotherapy treatment and received her first dose of chemotherapy drug Taxotere.

Lisa was treated with Taxotere during six rounds of chemotherapy. She later discovered that, while hair loss is normal with chemotherapy treatment, her hair was not returning.

She alleges, according to her breast cancer drug lawsuit, that Sanofi Aventis is responsible for the fact that neither she nor her medical care providers knew that Taxotere could leave her permanently bald.

According to Lisa, both she and “numerous other women, were the innocent victims of [the] Defendant’s greed, recklessness, and willful and wanton conduct.”

Additionally, she accuses Sanofi Aventis of participating in illegal kickbacks and fraudulent marketing schemes. This breast cancer drug lawsuit alleges that Sanofi Avenits directly caused thousands of patients to be exposed to the increased toxicity of Taxotere versus less toxic products.

Sanofi Aventis, Lisa claims, engaged in a marketing scheme that promoted the breast cancer drug Taxotere for off-label purposes and uses not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

First, the breast cancer drug lawsuit alleges, Sanofi Aventis trained and then asked their employees to misrepresent the safety and effectiveness of Taxotere in order to increase their market.

Secondly, Lisa claims that Sanofi Aventis paid healthcare providers illegal kickbacks in the form of sham grants, speaking fees, free reimbursement assistance, travel, entertainment and sports and concert tickets.

Because of these issues, the breast cancer drug lawsuit says, Sanofi Aventis saw a huge bump in sales of Taxotere even though it produced severe and irreversible side effects. In 2000, Taxotere sales reached $424 million and just four years later, in 2004, Taxotere sales topped $1.4 billion.

Patients claim that Taxotere is the reason behind permanent, disfiguring hair loss. Most patients who undergo chemotherapy expect to lose their hair, but many Taxotere users’ hair does not grow back at all.

Permanent alopecia associated with Taxotere often causes sufferers psychological damage, mental anguish and economic damages.

The plaintiff is bringing forth claims of product liability for negligence, design and manufacturing defects, strict products liability, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation and fraud.

This Breast Cancer Drug Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-02159-KDE-MBN, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.