African Pride® Hair Relaxer Lawsuit | Cancer Lawyer, Attorney

Lawsuits have been filed by women who used African Pride Hair Relaxers and developed uterine cancer and other illnesses.

What You Can Do & How We Can Help

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting African Pride Hair Relaxer induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know used hair relaxers and was diagnosed with uterine cancer, fibroids, endometriosis, or breast cancer, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Product Liability Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

African Pride Hair Relaxer Lawsuit Filed by Woman With Cancer

In January 2023, a lawsuit was filed by a woman from Missouri who developed uterine cancer after decades of using hair relaxers.

The woman, Angela S., said she started using hair relaxers to straighten her hair in 1983, when she was just 15 years old, and continued to use a variety of products for the next 30 years.

Those products included African Pride Hair Relaxers, Dark & Lovely, Olive Oil (ORS), Africa’s Best, Just for Me, Motions, Optimum, Soft & Beautiful, TCB or TCB Naturals, and Ultra Sheen Supreme.

She was diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2014, when she was around 46 or 47 years old (despite no family history of uterine cancer). Shortly after her diagnosis, she underwent a full hysterectomy and followed up with chemotherapy for several months.

Her lawsuit was filed against several major beauty companies who sell hair relaxers, including L’Oreal, SoftSheen-Carson, Strength of Nature LLC, Namaste Laboratories, and Godrej Son Holdings Inc.

She claims that her uterine cancer was directly caused by her regular exposure to phthalates and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals in hair relaxers.

Her Hair Relaxer Lawsuit was filed on January 5, 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri — Case Number 4:23-cv-0011.

What is the Problem?

L’Oreal and other beauty companies are facing a growing number of hair relaxer lawsuits from women who claim that the manufacturers knew (or should have known) that harmful chemicals in hair relaxers could increase the risk of uterine cancer and other serious illnesses.

Hair Relaxers Are Aggressively Marketed to Black Women

Instead of warning women about the potential risks of using hair relaxers, lawsuits claim that manufacturers decided to aggressively advertise hair relaxers to Black children — creating generations of loyal customers who had no idea that they might develop cancer.

Hormonally-Active Chemicals in Hair Relaxers

The problem is that hair relaxers often contain hormonally-active chemicals and carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals). For example, phthalates are known to cause endocrine disruption.

Phthalates in Hair Relaxers

Unfortunately, many women were unaware of the risk because “phthalates” may not be listed on the label — instead, they are often broadly lumped under the term “fragrance” or “perfume,” because these chemicals are added to scents to make them last longer on the body, hair, or the air.

Study Links Hair Relaxers and Uterine Cancer

In October 2022, researchers published a groundbreaking study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, which found a doubled risk fo uterine cancer associated with the chemicals in hair relaxers.

The conclusions of the study were based on data from 34,000 women in the U.S. between the ages of 35 and 74 who participated in the nationwide Sister Study. The researchers found 378 cases of uterine cancer, and women who used hair relaxers had the highest risk.

Experts Also Find Higher Rates of Breast Cancer

The same team of researchers also published another study in the International Journal of Cancer that found a higher risk of breast cancer associated with hair straighteners.

How Do Hair Relaxer Chemicals Get Into My Body?

These experts warned that hair relaxers and other chemical straighteners may pose an added risk (compared to traditional hair dye kits) because of the harsh chemicals. These chemicals commonly cause painful sores on the scalp, which might provide a pathway for the body to absorb higher amounts of toxic chemicals in hair relaxers.

What is the Risk?

Do I have an African Pride Hair Relaxer Lawsuit?

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African Pride Hair Relaxer Lawsuit