Link Between Hair Relaxers and Cancer To Be Examined by Court During “Science Day”

Non-adversarial scientific presentations will by made by lawyers for plaintiffs and defendants on January 8, 2026, to educate the judge presiding over thousands of hair relaxer cancer lawsuits in the federal courts.

The U.S. District Judge overseeing all hair relaxer cancer lawsuits filed throughout the federal court system has called on the parties to prepare special presentations to help bring the Court up to speed on the scientific underpinnings of claims that allege widely used chemical straighteners increase the risk of uterine cancer, ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer.

L’Oreal, Revlon and other hair relaxer manufacturers face more than 12,000 product liability lawsuits filed over the last three years, after researchers published new scientific evidence linking hair relaxer side effects to increased reproductive cancer risks. Each of the complaints indicates that the manufacturers failed to warn women of the risks of popular hair relaxers like Dark and Lovely, Just for Me, ORS Olive Oil and others, which are commonly used by African American women to straighten their hair.

The plaintiffs say they were misled into thinking the products were safe enough to use in their hair and on their scalps for decades, claiming that they never would have purchased the products if they had known it may cause them to develop cancer.

As women continue to learn about the allegations involved in the claims, hair relaxer lawyers continue to investigate and file a steady stream of new claims. Since many of the hair relaxer cancers take years to develop, it is widely expected that the size and scope of the litigation will continue to grow significantly for the next several years to come.

In 2023, U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland, of the Northern District of Illinois was appointed to oversee a hair relaxer cancer lawsuit multidistrict litigation (MDL), consolidating all federal claims before her for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings, as well as early bellwether test trials.

However, before the Court can make many key decisions, such as on the admissibility of evidence and expert testimony, Judge Rowland issued a case management order (PDF) on June 25, indicating that a Science Day will be held on January 8, 2026.

Such proceedings typically involve non-adversarial presentations by expert witnesses or lawyers, which are intended to educate the court about issues and concepts that will come up during the proceedings. The presentations are not part of the official record in the case, or subject to cross examination.

“The purpose of the presentations is to educate the Court on the scientific and medical issues in this litigation. The Court understands that the parties have differing views of the evidence; nonetheless, the purpose of the presentations shall be education, not advocacy.”

-Judge Mary Rowland, Case Management Order #21

In the hair relaxer lawsuit science day, each side will be given two hours to give their presentations. Each presentation is to be given by scientists, medical professionals or other experts in the appropriate fields. Judge Rowland also noted she may invite state judges handling similar hair relaxer cancer lawsuits to attend.

Hair Relaxer Bellwether Trials

Once the Science Day has been held, it will leave the Court in a better position to rule on key decisions in the ongoing preparations for early bellwether trials.

These early test trials are designed to see how juries are likely to respond to evidence and testimony common throughout thousands of similar claims. The results could potentially lead to a global hair relaxer settlement agreement, potentially avoiding a multitude of costly and time-consuming individual trials.

In May, plaintiffs and manufacturers selected 32 hair relaxer lawsuits that will serve as the initial bellwether discovery pool, and be eligible for the first bellwether trial dates.

These claims each involve women diagnosed with uterine cancer, ovarian cancer or endometrial cancer after regular chemical straightener exposure, and are expected to go through case-specific discovery and depositions over the next few years, before the parties select a smaller group of claims that will go before juries.

While the outcome of these early trials will not be binding on other women presenting a claim, they will be closely watched by lawyers involved in the litigation and may have a substantial impact on the timing and average amounts of any hair relaxer settlements offered to women diagnosed with uterine cancer, endometrial cancer and ovarian cancer in future years.

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