Hair Straightener Lawsuit & Uterine Cancer Lawsuit Attorneys
Table of Contents
Hair straightener lawsuits are on the rise. NIH study found that women who used chemical hair straighteners were at higher risk for uterine cancer.
Hair Straightening Chemicals Linked to Higher Uterine Cancer Risk
Hair straightener lawsuits are on the rise. A National Institute of Health (NIH) study found that women who used chemical hair straightening products were at higher risk for uterine cancer than women who did not report using the products.
According to the study, the likelihood for women who never used hair straightening products to develop uterine cancer by the age of 70 was 1.64%, but for frequent users, the risk rose to 4.05%. Frequent users were those who reported utilizing hair straightening products more than four times in the previous year.
Several chemicals found in straighteners were identified as possible contributors to the increase in uterine cancer risk. Some of the “hazardous chemicals” include:
Parabens
Bisphenol A
Metals
Formaldehyde
Increasing U.S. Rates of Uterine Cancer, Particularly Among Black Women
Amongst the general population, uterine cancer is a rare type of cancer, it is the most common cancer for the female reproductive system. Uterine cancer rates are on the rise in the United States, particularly among Black women.
60% of the NIH study participants who reported using straighteners in the previous year identified as Black women. A researched noted the findings were significant especially for Black women who tend to use hair straightening products more frequently and at earlier ages than other races than other races and ethnicities.
Lawsuits Filed Against Companies for Hair Straightening Products Linked to Cancer
At least three suits across Illinois, New York, and California have already been filed against companies, including L’Oreal and the parent companies of Just For Me Brand, SoftSheen Carson, Strength of Nature, Dabur, and Namaste Laboratories for their chemical hair straightening products.
The Plaintiff in the Illinois lawsuit is a 32-year-old African-American woman who recalled receiving hair relaxers as young as 8 years old. At 28, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer and underwent a full hysterectomy. She used hair-straightening products from 2000 through March 2022. She is seeking damages in excess of $75,000.
For the full report by the National Institute of Health, click this link: Use of Straighteners and Other Hair Products and Incident Uterine Cancer – PubMed (nih.gov)
Using chemical hair straightening or relaxer products has been shown to double the risk of uterine cancer in women. If you were diagnosed with uterine cancer after using chemical hair straightening products, you may be eligible for compensation from a hair straightener lawsuit.
Who Can File a Chemical Hair Straightener Lawsuit?
You may be able to file a chemical hair straightener lawsuit if you:
Used chemical hair straightening products or relaxers
Were later diagnosed with endometrial or uterine cancer
Filing a Lawsuit Over Chemical Hair Straightening Products
When a product is put on the market, it should be safe for consumers to use — but sadly, that’s not always the case.
By filing a chemical hair straightener lawsuit, you can take a stand against the companies that made these products and seek compensation that can help pay for your medical treatment.
At Carter Law Group, we understand how difficult a situation this must be for you and your family. Our attorneys work to make the legal process as stress-free as possible for you by handling every step on your behalf.
This process generally involves your hair straightener lawyers and legal team:
Confirming your case qualifies for legal action
Building your case by collecting evidence, like medical records and testimony
Filing your hair straightener claim within any legal deadlines
Negotiating a hair straightener lawsuit settlement with the defendant(s)
Pursuing a verdict during a trial in court
Chemical Hair Straightener Lawsuit Settlements & Verdicts
Filing a chemical hair straightener lawsuit can result in compensation in one of two potential ways:
Hair Straightener Settlements: When your legal team and the defendant(s) can agree to an amount of compensation for your injuries, it’s known as a hair straightener settlement.
Trial Verdicts: If a hair straightener settlement isn’t reached, your case may proceed to a trial in court, where a judge or jury will hear the claim and decide the outcome.
What to Look for in a Hair Relaxer Lawyer
Not every attorney or law firm has the experience and resources needed to take legal action against several large cosmetic companies at the same time. These companies often employ powerful legal teams of their own that may try to protect their profits and shield themselves from liability if possible.
At Carter Law Group, our attorneys fight to level the playing field between victims and the institutions or companies that harmed them.
Why choose Carter Law Group for your hair relaxer claim?
Established & Experienced: For over 20 years, Carter Law Group has fought for compensation and justice on behalf of injured clients.
Millions of Dollars Recovered: We’ve secured over $100 Million because our team is committed to fighting for the results our clients deserve.
Legal Help Available Nationwide: Regardless of where you’re located in the U.S., The Carter Law Group can help. As a national product liability law firm, we have offices and attorneys in nearly every state.
No Hourly Fees or Out-of-Pocket Costs: Our hair relaxer lawyers only get paid if your case results in compensation, so there’s no financial risk to taking legal action.
You want a lawyer who will fight for you — and that’s just what our team will do. Let us put our decades of experience to work for you. Call(214) 390-4173 now for a free case review.
Get Help Filing a Hair Straightener Lawsuit
Through our legal services and decades-long commitment to providing equal access to the justice system, Carter Law Group is deeply committed to assisting victims who need help the most.
What happened to you wasn’t fair — but we’ll work to make it right. Our firm is proud to have stood up for the voiceless in the face of harm for more than 20 years.
Let us help you hold the companies that made and marketed these dangerous hair products accountable for their greed and negligence.
Cosmetics company L’Oréal, along with multiple other parties, is being sued over claims that its chemical hair straightening products put women at an increased risk of uterine cancer.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, counsel Diandra “Fu” Debrosse Zimmermann and others filed a hair straightener lawsuit Friday in Illinois on behalf of 32-year-old Missouri resident Jenny Mitchell, claiming that Mitchell’s uterine cancer “was directly and proximately caused by her regular and prolonged exposure to phthalates and other endocrine disrupting chemicals found in Defendants’ hair care products.”
CNN has contacted L’Oréal, Namaste Laboratories LLC, Dabur International Ltd. and Godrej Consumer Products, parent company of the Just For Me brand, for comment.
Debrosse Zimmermann told CNN on Monday that the hair straightener lawsuit marks a “watershed moment” for women of color who have used chemical hair-straightening products, such as relaxers.
At a news conference Monday, Mitchell said that she recalls getting hair relaxers around third grade, when she was about 8 years old.
Mitchell was diagnosed with uterine cancer on August 10, 2018, according to the hair straightener lawsuit, and underwent a full hysterectomy at Boone Hospital Center in Missouri on September 24, 2018.
“At that time, at the age of 28, my dreams of becoming a mother were gone,” she said. In the hair straightener lawsuit, she claims to have no family history of cancer or uterine cancer.
Jenny Mitchell, left, was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2018.
“As most young African-American girls, chemical relaxers, chemical straighteners were introduced to us at a young age,” Mitchell said. “Society has made it a norm to look a certain way, in order to feel a certain way. And I am the first voice of many voices to come that will stand, stand up to these companies, and say, ‘No more.’”
Mitchell continued using chemical hair-straightening products from around 2000 until March 2022, and she is seeking compensation in excess of $75,000, according to the hair straightener lawsuit.
Two other individual cases have been filed – in California and New York – against cosmetic companies, including L’Oreal, claiming a connection between chemical hair-straightening products and cancer diagnoses, Debrosse Zimmermann said.
“We imagine that we will continue representing additional women in filing cases, as will other firms, and more and more women will come forward,” she said.
Mitchell’s lawsuit was filed just days after the publication of a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, which estimates that among women who frequently use hair-straightening chemical products, the risk of developing uterine cancer by age 70 is around 4%. In women who did not use hair-straightening chemical products in the previous 12 months, the study estimates the risk of developing uterine cancer by age 70 to be 1.6%.
Black women tend to use these chemical hair-straightening products more frequently than White women, the researchers noted.
The study data showed that the association between hair straightening products and uterine cancer cases was most pronounced for Black women, who made up only 7.4% of the study participants, but 59.9% of those who reported ever using straighteners.
Several factors probably play a role in the frequent use of hair straightening products: Eurocentric standards of beauty and social pressures placed on Black and Latina women in workplace settings related to microaggressions and the threat of discrimination, along with desired versatility in changing hairstyles and self-expression.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta and the CNN Health team:
“Black women have long been the victims of dangerous products specifically marketed to them,” Crump said in a news release. “Black hair has been and always will be beautiful, but Black women have been told they have to use these products to meet society’s standards. We will likely discover that Ms. Mitchell’s tragic case is one of countless cases in which companies aggressively misled black women to increase their profits.”
Chemicals in Hair-Straightening Products Are Associated With Uterine Cancer: Who’s Affected?
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a study reporting that women who used hair-straightening products were at higher risk of developing uterine cancer than those who did not use the products. If you developed uterine cancer following the use of hair-straightening products, you might have legal standing to seek compensation.
An 11-year study of more than 33,000 women ages 35 to 74 in the United States concluded that those who used hair-straightening products at least four times a year were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer than those who didn’t use the products.
The NIH study found 1.64% of women who never used hair straighteners would develop uterine cancer by the age of 70, compared to an elevated risk of 4.05% for those who did use the products
Do you qualify?
If you are a woman who developed uterine cancer following the use of hair-straightening products, you may qualify to join the hair straightener lawsuit investigation.
Uterine cancer rates rise among all women, especially Black women
A news release issued by the NIH about the study reported uterine cancer accounts for 3% of all new cancer cases but is the most common cancer of the female reproductive system. A separate release also noted the incident rates of uterine cancer have been rising among all women; Black women in the United States are particularly affected, The New York Times reported.
Incidence and mortality rates in the United States over the last 20 years, according to the most recent release, with more than an estimated 65,950 new cases in 2022.
Approximately 60% of the participants who reported using straighteners were black women, according to the study. The news release stated that “the study did not find that the relationship between straightener use and uterine cancer was different by race” but that “the adverse health effects may be greater for black women due to the higher prevalence of use.” In other words, black women use hair straightening products more often than other women and begin using them at an earlier age.
Straighteners not regulated by FDA
The New York Times reported the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate hair products and other cosmetics. According to the news organization, companies and manufacturers have a legal responsibility to make sure their products are safe but are not required to conduct testing on either the products or the ingredients used in those products.
Earlier studies show hair straighteners contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals, according to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Reuters reported. These chemicals have been associated with higher risks for breast and ovarian cancer.
The most recent NIH study represents the first epidemiological evidence of an association between straightening products and uterine cancer. The new report strengthens a hypothesis in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that “synthetic estrogenic compounds such as endocrine-disrupting chemicals could contribute to uterine cancer risk because of their ability to alter hormonal actions.” Hair products contain various endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
Join a Chemical Hair Straightener Lawsuit Investigation
If you are a woman who developed uterine cancer after using hair-straightening products, you may qualify to participate in a hair straightener lawsuit investigation.
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