Did You Develop Cancer After Using Optimum?

Optimum, a popular hair relaxer product, has been a target of lawsuits that cite increased uterine cancer rates among women who’ve used hair relaxer products. If you’ve used Optimum and then developed uterine cancer, discuss your rights at once with a national product liability attorney.

Soft Sheen was a company founded in Chicago in 1964 by African Americans. In 1998, L’Oreal purchased Soft Sheen. In 2000, L’Oreal acquired Carson Products and merged the companies. SoftSheen-Carson now manufactures Optimum, which is marketed primarily to black women.

The claims against SoftSheen-Carson cite a National Institute of Health study published in 2022. That decade-long study of more than 33,000 women determined that women who regularly use hair relaxer products develop uterine cancer at a rate three times higher than women who don’t.

What Are the Facts About Uterine Cancer?

Hair relaxer products consist of a number of carcinogenic chemicals, including formaldehyde, phthalates, parabens, and bisphenol-A. Optimum’s packaging warns its users to avoid skin, hair, and eye damage, but there is no warning about the product’s potential for causing uterine cancer.

With early detection, approximately 95 percent of uterine cancer patients survive, but after uterine cancer extends past the uterus, that survival rate dips under 20 percent. Unfortunately, uterine cancer is, in many cases, virtually impossible to detect in its earliest stages.

That’s because a uterine cancer patient may have no symptoms or signs of uterine cancer until the cancer reaches its later stages. Upon detection, the usual treatment for uterine cancer is a hysterectomy procedure, but some patients may also require chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

What Are the Signs of Uterine Cancer?

Uterine cancer typically develops in the lining of the uterus, called the endometrium. When the symptoms of uterine cancer emerge, these symptoms may include:

  1.  abdominal pain or discomfort
  2.  pain or difficulty with urinating
  3.  pain during sexual intercourse
  4.  bleeding between periods
  5.  post-menopausal vaginal bleeding

Who is at Risk for Uterine Cancer?

Black women use hair straightening products more often and at a higher rate than other consumers. The Journal of the National Cancer Institute tells us that black women are disproportionately at risk for – and diagnosed with – aggressive endometrial and uterine cancers.

The American Journal of Epidemiology has linked uterine fibroids to the use of hair relaxer products. Also called leiomyomas or myomas, these are growths in the uterus that may lead to cancer. Black women are three times more likely than other women to develop uterine fibroids.

Optimum claims to provide “salon results at home” in “6 easy steps,” but one lawsuit filed in a California federal court in 2022 claims that L’Oréal and SoftSheen-Carson have intentionally marketed Optimum to black women while knowing since at least 2015 about the potential risks.

Researchers have also found that women who’ve used hair relaxer products are at a higher risk for breast cancer, endometrial cancer, and ovarian cancer. If you have used Optimum, and you have developed cancer, you must speak at once to a national product liability attorney.

Is There a Time Limit for Product Liability Claims?

If you have used Optimum and you have subsequently received a uterine cancer diagnosis, schedule a free, in-depth case evaluation as quickly as possible with a national product liability lawyer. You will receive sound, personalized legal advice about your right to compensation.

In every state, a statute of limitations restricts the time you have to bring a claim for product liability. In most cases, if you do not meet that deadline, a court will not consider your claim. In all but five states, the deadline for a product liability claim is two, three, or four years.

Wherever you are in the U.S., if you used Optimum and developed uterine cancer, call a national product liability lawyer now. If you have missed your state’s filing deadline, you may be allowed to take legal action in another state, or your case may qualify as an exception to the deadline.

How Will a Lawsuit Against SoftSheen-Carson Be Handled?

For a cancer patient who sues SoftSheen-Carson, it’s best to be advised and represented by a lawyer who has already handled and prevailed with claims based on the use of hair relaxer products. If your claim against SoftSheen-Carson prevails, you may recover compensation for:

  1.  your pending and projected future medical costs
  2.  your lost earnings and projected future lost earnings
  3.  your personal pain, suffering, and related losses and damages

Your attorney will need to examine your medical records, and your attorney may seek the help and/or testimony of a medical expert witness. Your product liability claim against SoftSheen-Carson will be more likely to prevail if:

  1.  You used Optimum for at least two years.
  2.  You used Optimum at least four times a year.
  3.  You have received a diagnosis of ovarian or uterine cancer.

It Costs Nothing to Begin the Legal Process

Financial concerns need not be a barrier to taking legal action. You will pay no lawyer’s fee upfront and no fee until your lawyer recovers compensation on your behalf. If you are not compensated at the end of the product liability process, you will pay no fee to your lawyer.

Most product liability claims are resolved out-of-court when the attorneys for both sides privately negotiate a settlement. Your case will go to trial only if liability is contested or if no reasonable settlement amount is offered in the out-of-court negotiations.

Few personal injury or product liability lawyers or law firms have the resources or experience required to prevail against big companies like SoftSheen-Carson. However, your lawyer should have substantial experience handling product liability claims across the United States.

Greg Jones Law Fights for Cancer Victims

Award-winning product liability lawyer Greg Jones has considerable experience with product liability claims arising from the use of hair relaxer products. He often works with top trial lawyers across the nation to ensure that his clients have the best possible representation.

Wherever you are in the U.S., the team at Greg Jones Law will provide you with a cost-free, in-depth case evaluation. We respond promptly to every inquiry we receive. You will learn how the law applies to your own case and what steps to take next – with no obligation.

Lawsuits are already pending in a number of states against SoftSheen-Carson and other commercial hair relaxer manufacturers. If you or your loved one has received a cancer diagnosis after using Optimum, call Greg Jones Law now at 855-566-3752 (or 85-JONES-LAW).