By Diana Novak Jones

Sept 11 (Reuters) – Arizona has sued L’Oreal SA and its U.S. subsidiary, alleging the cosmetics company hid evidence that its hair relaxer products could cause cancer ‌in women, as it faces thousands of similar lawsuits from users and their families.

Arizona Attorney ‌General Kristin Mayes, a Democrat, filed the lawsuit late Thursday in state court, making Arizona the first state to sue over ​alleged cancer risks linked to hair relaxers. The lawsuit accuses L’Oreal of violating state consumer protection laws by marketing the products, which are used predominantly by African American women, without warning consumers about the alleged risks of ovarian and uterine cancers.

The state is seeking penalties and damages, as well as a court order forcing ‌L’Oreal to stop selling the products ⁠unless it warns of the cancer risk.

In marketing the products to women and children over decades, L’Oreal and associated companies “exploited centuries of social pressures and discriminatory beauty ⁠standards affecting people of African descent, all while prioritizing profit over consumer safety,” Arizona’s lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit comes as the company faces more than 12,000 similar lawsuits filed by women or their families that have been consolidated ​in ​a Chicago federal court as part of a multidistrict ​litigation proceeding, a procedure designed to more ‌efficiently manage lawsuits filed in multiple jurisdictions.

A spokesperson for L’Oreal USA said the company is confident in the safety of its products and believes the claims are without legal or scientific merit.

A 2022 STUDY

The products, which have been marketed under the names Dark and Lovely, Optimum and other brands, promise to permanently straighten textured hair.

The first lawsuits hit the docket after the 2022 release of a study done by ‌the National Institutes of Health that found women who used ​the products several times a year were more than twice ​as likely to develop uterine cancer.

L’Oreal’s spokesperson said ​Friday the study made no finding of a causal connection between the use ‌of those products and any conditions alleged by ​the plaintiffs.

The lawsuits seek ​damages to compensate the women for their pain and suffering and economic damages for medical bills and the cost of the products, among other things.

The lawsuits name L’Oreal, as well as ​Revlon and other makers of the ‌products. Revlon has also denied a connection between cancer and the products.

The multidistrict litigation continues ​to move forward, court records show, and trials could begin next year.

(Reporting by Diana ​Novak Jones, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Aurora Ellis)