Our hair is often the first thing people see, and everyone tries different things to make their hair stand out or fit in. While your hair makes you unique, many products can change the texture and style. One of those products is chemical hair straighteners. These are lotions or creams that break down the protein of curly hair. When there is enough protein broken down, the hair becomes permanently straight. The chemicals work until the hair grows out, unlike a serum or hot tool. Chemical hair straighteners cause serious illness, and a mass tort lawsuit is on the horizon to reprimand manufacturers for their actions.
Illness from hair straighteners
All chemical hair straighteners are dangerous and cause various illnesses across the country. Cancer is prevalent among these cases. If you suffer the following after using a chemical hair straightener, you must speak with a New Jersey mass tort attorney:
● Breast cancer
● Uterine cancer
● Endometrial cancer, also known as endometriosis
● Ovarian cancer
● Uterine fibroids
Cancer is a life-altering illness, but uterine cancer is treatable. Sarcoma cancer is more aggressive and challenging to treat; the five-year survival rate is five years for uterine cancer. While anyone can have uterine cancer, a study found that individuals who use chemical hair straighteners are twice as likely to develop cancer. Since the findings are still new, you can suffer other illnesses resulting from chemical hair straighteners, and you should seek a medical evaluation and speak to our mass tort attorneys.
No federal oversight on hair relaxers
The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act requires ingredients to be listed on cosmetic products, but many loopholes exist. The biggest concern is the chemicals EDC and Phthalates. EDC interferes with the endocrine system, and hormone receptors and Phthalates are used to make plastics. No one wants these chemicals in their hair, but manufacturers have put them there. Victims wonder how this can happen when there are federal agencies in charge of monitoring products and ensuring they are safe.
White, there must be listed ingredients; no law or action requires a list of ingredients when there are flavors or fragrances. This major loophole is how these manufacturers and retailers have gotten dangerous chemicals into the hands of consumers. Suppose the chemical hair straightening you are purchasing has phthalates, but it has a lavender scent; the manufacturer does not need to list the dangerous chemical. This loophole must be closed, and the law must change.
Current litigation updates
At the time of this writing, the class action lawsuit continues to grow. The most recent filings involve allegations of uterine fibroids and uterine cancer as the primary injuries. A decision is set to come in February on the first round of lawsuits which is said to total nearly 25 by that time. However, the overall future prognosis is there will be thousands of chemical hair straightener lawsuits, even well over 100,000 making this the largest class action lawsuit in history.
There are many manufacturers of chemical hair relaxers, but the most prominent name thus far is L’oreal. Other major players are Unilever and Procter and Gamble, who have not yet been named in any lawsuits but could in the future. These companies have major financial means to compensate victims. However, compensation does not take away your cancer or your pain.
Speak to a New Jersey hair straightener mass tort lawyer
At Kwartler Manus, LLC, we aggressively advocate for injury victims. The first lawsuits were filed at the end of October 2022 in Illinois, New York, and California against various cosmetic companies, with many other states seeing the same trend. There is also a move to consolidate the cases into a class action MDL which is likely to happen and will shape the future of these cases. The amount you can recover from a hair relaxer lawsuit is uncertain since it is still early in the process. If you have used any chemical hair straightener, you must discuss your legal options with our New Jersey mass tort lawyer. Give the courtroom bulldogs a call for an initial consultation today.