At least half a dozen Canadians have joined a class-action lawsuit, which has not yet been certified, that claims Old Spice deodorants can cause chemical burns.
Rodney Colley of Virginia was the first to file legal action against the men’s line and its parent company, Procter & Gamble, after he claims he noticed “severe injuries on his armpits.”
“He noticed it inflaming in the skin, bubbling. He was in a bad way.”
Cochran added that it took a while for his client’s wounds to heal.
Roughly 400 others have added their names to the class-action lawsuit since it was launched March 11 in Ohio, according to his legal team.
“We probably got 100 today,” Cochran said late Tuesday.
The lawsuit claims that for some people the irritation and rashes were so bad they reportedly went to the emergency room. The lawsuit includes numerous online complaints of red and burning armpits, with some accounts dating back to 2009.
The team claims the injuries aren’t isolated to one particular Old Spice product, but rather “a number of their products.”
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Aside from “fair compensation,” which Cochran wouldn’t put a number on, the team wants to see a “fair warning” placed on Old Spice products.
It accuses the company of knowing about the problem for years and not doing much about it.
Procter & Gamble has released the following statement in response to the lawsuit:
“The safety of the men who use Old Spice is the foundation of everything we do. We go to great lengths to ensure our products are safe to use, and tens of millions of men use this product with confidence and without incident every year.
“A small number of men may experience irritation due to alcohol sensitivity, a common ingredient used across virtually all deodorant products.
“For men who have experienced a reaction to a deodorant, an antiperspirant may be a better option because they have a different formulation. If anyone using Old Spice has questions, we encourage them to call us at 1-800-677-7582.”
None of the allegations have been proven in court.