Thousands of American consumers, especially women, have suffered from extreme hair loss problems after using WEN hair products, according to a recent class action lawsuit.

The WEN hair products and their allegedly devastating side effects on users’ hair have caused more than 17,000 American consumers to complain directly to the marketing firm associated with the product.

WEN Hair Product Complaints

One of the reasons WEN hair products have become such a problem is that these products are heavily marketed. WEN hair products have been endorsed by several celebrity figures, including Brooke Shields.

While Brooke Shields claims that WEN is responsible for the “shine, volume, and texture” of her hair, other WEN hair products users claim that WEN is responsible for their extreme hair loss.

A Texas woman said in a public forum that she has lost over half of her hair since using WEN. Others claim that not only does WEN cause hair loss — it can also causes damage to the scalp and eyes. The marketing firm, Guthy-Renker, has reportedly received thousands of these kinds of complaints.

WEN is an extremely popular product, endorsed by Hollywood celebrity hair stylist Chaz Dean, and is second only to Proactive for Guthy-Renker sales.

According to the recent WEN class action lawsuit, Guthy-Renker received over 17,000 complaints directly from consumers — mostly women — who had used its WEN products and either suffered from severe hair loss or experienced other negative side effects to their hair or scalp.

While Guthy-Renker has not reported these thousands of complaints to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), federal cosmetic safety regulations technically do not require that it does so.

FDA Hair Care Product Regulations

While many aspects of FDA laws have been consistently updated and approved over the years, the laws covering personal care products, including hair care products, have mostly remained unchanged since 1938.

Many aspects of FDA regulations regarding hair care products are in need of an update. For instance, the FDA still does not require safety testing of personal care products before they are sold. Because the FDA does not require companies to report customer injury complaints — even extremely serious ones — the  federal agency is even less likely to make necessary changes.

More than 75 years have gone by with very little change in the way the FDA regulates hair product safety, but hair products themselves have changed a great deal.

A solution to this decades-old issue has been proposed. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California  and Republican Sen.Susan Collins and Maine introducds a bill called the Personal Care Products Safety Act to address these problems.

This legislation would simply require that companies ensure their products are entirely safe before marketing them, and it would also give the FDA the power it needs to regulate these products.

The bipartisan legislation introduced by Feinstein and Collins would require that companies like Guthy-Renker disclose the ingredients they use in their hair care products to the FDA. This way, potentially dangerous ingredients — including ingredients that are known allergens — would be kept away from consumers.

The legislation would also require that personal care product companies disclose adverse health events to the FDA, such as the 17,000 complaints from consumers across the country over WEN hair care products.

The FDA would then be able to recall any dangerous products, as well as require specific warnings and labeling for certain products.

If you or someone you know has experienced hair loss or any other damage to your hair or scalp after using a WEN hair care product, you may be able to gain some kind of compensation by filing an individual WEN lawsuit or a WEN class action lawsuit.

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