Lawsuit claims hair relaxant causes uterine cancer in black women

Summary:

• Multiple studies have found a link between certain hair relaxer products and uterine cancer.
• At least 12 companies, including L’Oréal and Revlon, are the subject of lawsuits for failing to warn users of cancer risks, according to . Reuters.
• A study of hair care products used primarily by black women also found a link to multiple types of cancer.

You could be forgiven for forgetting the numerous research studies investigating the link between certain hair care products and various forms of cancer. But since a National Institutes of Health-funded study linking the use of over-the-counter hair relaxers to hair health, Prevalence of uterine cancer ‘ will be published in October 2022, and Black women across the United States will take part in a lawsuit The purpose is to hold companies accountable for failing to notify users of potential cancer risks. Reuters.

Hair relaxers, also called straighteners, are used Mainly by black women The goal is to chemically straighten hair, according to the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS), conducted by researchers at Boston University. Since the first lawsuit was filed in 2022, Reuters It reported thousands of additional lawsuits from women who used hair products from companies that failed to disclose long-term risks.

Jenny Mitchell, the plaintiff in the first 2022 lawsuit, claimed she started using hair relaxers at age 10 and was diagnosed with uterine cancer at age 28.According to the lawsuit, treatment is being provided. Every 1-2 months It’s a worrying reality for an elderly woman who has lived like this for “decades.”

As stated in Reuters A TV commercial was how many people learned about a law firm’s efforts to hold companies accountable for failing to put adequate warnings on the labels of hair care products related to uterine cancer, according to the report. . L’Oréal and Revlon are two prominent companies on a list of more than a dozen such companies that are the subject of lawsuits. Reuters.

Although Revlon denies any link between hair relaxers and cancer, there is a wealth of research behind this lawsuit. Reuters.

In other words: sister study referenced in Reuters A report has been published and National Cancer Institute Journal The past 20 years have seen an increasingly grim fate for users of these products, with approximately 66,000 new diagnoses and 12,550 deaths.

The study found that users of hair straightening products were about twice as likely to develop uterine cancer compared to those who did not use such products. Additionally, it was found that those who used hair relaxers four or more times a year had approximately 2.5 times the risk of developing uterine cancer when compared to those who did not use hair relaxers.

BWHS, which followed 45,000 women over 22 years, found “statistically significant” evidence about the fate of hair relaxer users. Women who used these products frequently (i.e., “more than once a year or for more than 5 years”) had a more than 50 percent increased risk of developing uterine cancer.

Although the study did not find that uterine cancer was racially differentiated (i.e., more prevalent in some races than others), as elucidated by the American Cancer Society, The majority of users are black womenthe results are troubling.

Miller & Zoe is a Maryland-based law firm. Provide frequent updates For those interested in litigation.

In October 2023, the company announced that the Food and Drug Administration proposed new rules to ban formaldehyde in hair relaxers. In mid-November, Judge Mary Rowland “upheld the majority of the plaintiffs’ claims,” ​​a positive sign for the class action. By this time, the number of infected people had increased from 21 in February to nearly 8,000.

On November 28, 2023, the company reported that the plaintiff’s lawyer had requested “withholding of 11% compensation” as compensation for its efforts.