THE WHAT? A federal judge has given the nod to a series of claims that chemical hair relaxers made by Revlon and L’Oreal caused cancer and other injuries. The multidistrict litigation totals some 8,000 lawsuits.

THE DETAILS According to a report published by Reuters, the companies stand accused of negligence, defective design and a failure to warn customers of the risks involved with use of the products in question. However, the judge stopped short of allowing claims for fraud.

THE WHY? The litigation stems from a National Institutes of Health study published in October 2022, which concluded that women who used hair relaxers several times per year were more likely to develop uterine cancer. Both L’Oreal and Revlon issued statements, per Reuters, defending the safety of their products.