July 19, 2021 — A category-action lawsuit has been filed towards Johnson & Johnson with the declare that the corporate’s OGX hair care merchandise trigger vital hair loss.
The merchandise are offered at main nationwide retailers, together with Goal, Ulta, CVS, Walmart, and Walgreens. Johnson & Johnson shampoos, conditioners, and a few hair oils are among the many merchandise named within the lawsuit.
The plaintiff, Larissa Whipple, an Illinois girl, cites the ingredient DMDM hydantoin as the primary concern. DMDM hydantoin is a preservative and antimicrobial agent typically present in hair care merchandise. It’s thought-about a “formaldehyde donor,” which means it releases a small quantity of formaldehyde over time to maintain the product recent.
However formaldehyde donors like this one have been linked to allergy symptoms, rashes, hair loss, and most cancers. The Division of Well being and Human Providers’ Nationwide Toxicology Program has mentioned formaldehyde is known to cause cancer.
The lawsuit says that the corporate might have violated client safety legal guidelines by promoting the merchandise containing this ingredient to individuals who need wholesome hair.
“Johnson & Johnson made plenty of affirmative misrepresentations … that the merchandise ‘deeply nourish’, ‘gently cleanse,’ and ‘restore hair.’ Nevertheless, the merchandise’ formulation accommodates an ingredient, or mixture of elements, that has induced Plaintiff and hundreds of shoppers to expertise hair loss and/or scalp irritation,” the lawsuit says.
Johnson & Johnson says all their elements are fastidiously chosen and are listed on the merchandise’ label. The corporate said that none of their new merchandise comprise DMDM hydantoin they usually haven’t launched any new hair merchandise with this ingredient in a number of years.
“We fastidiously choose elements to make sure the protection and efficiency of our merchandise,” Johnson & Johnson mentioned in an announcement to WebMD. “A few of our present merchandise comprise a small quantity of DMDM hydantoin, which is used to forestall mould from growing whereas the product is within the bathe. Each preservative utilized in our merchandise should clear our rigorous security evaluation course of.”
In August 2012, Johnson & Johnson introduced it will take away DMDM hydantoin and different comparable elements from their merchandise by 2015. Nevertheless, the lawsuit says that may be a “damaged promise.”
