Dabur India said that three of its international subsidiaries are among the companies being sued in the US and Canada by certain customers alleging that use of their hair relaxer products caused ovarian cancer, uterine cancer and other health issues. The three international subsidiaries that are facing “multiple lawsuits at both Federal and State Courts “in the two countries include Namaste Laboratories LLC, Dermoviva Skin Essentials Inc and Dabur International Ltd, it said in a late-night BSE filing on Wedneday.

“Cases have been filed in both federal and state courts in the United States and in Canada. The federal cases were consolidated as a Multi-District Litigation, also referred to as MDL, before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois,” the FMCG company stated. “Currently, the cases are in the pleadings and early discovery phases of litigation. There are various motions pending as well,” it added.

“Since we are in the initial stage of litigation, any final quantum of claim amount is neither probable nor estimable. However, the company is disclosing the details of aforesaid pending litigations, since the cumulative value of impact on account of legal defence cost is expected to breach the materiality threshold under the Listing Regulations,” the company stated in its BSE filing.

Early phase of litigation

The company said that currently there are about 5,400 cases in Multi-District Litigation, which name Namaste, Dermoviva and DINTL as defendants along with certain other industry players. “Certain consumers in the hair relaxer product industry have alleged that some industry players / defendants sold and/or manufactured hair relaxer products that contain certain chemicals and that the use of these hair relaxer product has caused ovarian cancer, uterine cancer and other health issues in the users,” the company added.

“Namaste, Dermoviva and DINTL deny liability and have retained counsel to defend them in these lawsuits as these allegations are based on unsubstantiated and incomplete study. Currently, the cases are in the pleadings and early discovery phases of litigation, which means the parties are challenging the adequacy of the plaintiffs’ complaints and, in some cases, exchanging requests for information and documents,” Dabur India stated.

The company’s share price closed at ₹525.45 a piece on the BSE on Thursday, down 1.63 per cent.

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