WEN users file class action lawsuit over hair loss
Last December, 200 women filed a class action lawsuit against WEN, the hair-care line run by celebrity hair stylist Chaz Dean. The women in the suit claimed the brand’s sulfate-free cleansing conditioner was causing their hair to fall out. They also said that the product, which is meant to be massaged into the scalp in lieu of regular shampoo, triggered “severe and possibly permanent damage to hair, including significant hair loss to the point of visible bald spots, hair breakage, scalp irritation, and rash.”
This past November, the WEN class action lawsuit was finally given preliminary approval for a $26.3 million settlement by a federal judge in Los Angeles—meaning that if a U.S. district judge approves the lawsuit, customers who experienced negative side effects could receive up to $20,000.
But if you regularly co-wash your hair and haven’t experienced problems, don’t panic: it’s probably fine to continue using a cleansing conditioner, according to the dermatologists who talked to Health in November. “If there were a specific depilatory ingredient in these products, it would affect more women,” said May Gail Mercurio, MD, an associate professor of dermatology at the University of Rochester Medical Center.