The FDA has received 127 adverse event reports as of July 7 — the largest number ever linked to any hair-care product — and they are urging consumers to report bad reactions so they can figure out what is causing the problem.
The FDA is also investigating more than 21,000 complaints to the manufacturer that were discovered during an inspection this year.
Consumers have been complaining about hair loss, hair breakage, baldness, itching, and rashes. In many cases, problems began within a couple weeks and persisted after discontinuing WEN. Take a look:
No one knows what could be causing bad reactions. WEN does not contain sulfates or harsh chemicals. It may not be an ingredient, but rather the way WEN is used. It is a “5-in-1” shampoo, conditioner, de-tangler, leave-in-conditioner, and deep conditioner.
In other words, WEN does not rinse out when you wash your hair. One attorney in Texas who filed a class action explained it this way:
It contains virtually no cleanser. It’s like using lotion to wash your hair, so instead of removing the product, when you rinse it off, it just becomes impacted in your hair follicle.”
Last year, more than 200 people in 40 states joined a class action lawsuit against Chaz Dean and Guthy-Renker, LLC, the company that owns QVC. They are accused of ignoring thousands of complaints and continuing to sell products they knew were causing hair loss.
Source: FDA