Tillamook, OR asked in Personal Injury and Products Liability for Oregon

Q: What's the first step in suing a Hair product company??

Hello.. I am writing someone in reguards of a hair product... couple weeks ago, my cousin wanted to change her hair.. so we went to Fred Meyers and bought a $10 dollar Splat box... when it was done.. it turned out perfect.. just a few days later... my cousin is repeatedly losing hair.. and continues to lose hair... she went to take a shower 25 minutes ago, and her hair is literally in a big ball... what should we do... looking into suing... can someone help

2 Lawyer Answers
Joanne Reisman
Joanne Reisman
Answered
  • Portland, OR
  • Licensed in Oregon

A: Attorneys bring lawsuits but experts are required to establish that someone was negligent. An attorney can't do that. So you have to find someone knowledgeable about hair products and their use that can examine your cousins hair and explain to you why the use of this product caused your cousin to have a bad result. You need to understand that any prior chemical treatment your cousin did to her hair could have caused a bad reaction with this new product. For example it is well known that the use of Henna will cause hair to have a bad reaction with subsequent hair treatments. It may also be that your cousin has some type of allergic condition. Your cousin also need to read the instructions and disclaimers included with the products. It may state that you need to do a patch test and wait a few days to make sure there is no adverse reaction before you apply the product to your head completely. So before you run off looking for an attorney to sue someone you need to do your homework. 1. Talk to hair care specialist and see if you can figure out the cause of the problem. 2. Did your cousin follow all the manufacturer's instructions including doing a patch test first? 3. Did your cousin use any other hair products or treatments that were counter indicated and could have caused this reaction? If you think that your cousin did everything correctly after you finish your investigation, then contact an attorney.

1 user found this answer helpful

Peter N. Munsing
Peter N. Munsing
Answered
  • Products Liability Lawyer
  • Wyomissing, PA

A: I would suggest your cousin needs to save the bottle it came in, the box,wrapping, anything that was inside, the store receipt the bag the whole deal.

Second, she needs to see a dermatologist (MD) because they can tell her if it's just a question of time. If so, she may have a small claims case but as Ms. Reisman mentioned you'd need someone to give an opinion that 1) the stuff caused your cousins issues and 2) that it was improperly formulated so that it was harmful for it's forseeable uses.

That is extremely expensive so if she will recover most attorneys would say let's see how she's doing, then talk.

Ultimately, you'd want to get the thoughts of a member of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Assn--they give free consults.

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