Dabur India units face lawsuits in US, Canada alleging products caused cancer

[October 19, 2023]  (Reuters) -Dabur India said on Wednesday its subsidiaries were among companies sued in the U.S. and Canada by customers alleging that the use of hair relaxer products had caused ovarian cancer, uterine cancer and other health issues.

Shares of the company fell as much as 2.5% on Thursday morning. They were last down 1.7% at 525 rupees as of 12:06 p.m. IST, extending their year-to-date decline to 6.5%.

"Currently, the cases are in the pleadings and early discovery phases of litigation," it said in an exchange filing late on Wednesday, adding the allegations are based on "unsubstantiated and incomplete" study.

The consumer goods firm said about 5,400 cases against several companies including its subsidiaries, Namaste Laboratories, Dermoviva Skin Essentials and Dabur International, have been consolidated as a multi-district litigation before a U.S. District Court in Illinois.

The units have denied liability and have retained counsel to defend them, the company said.

Dabur India, which sells Vatika Shampoo and Honitus cough syrup brands, said it could not determine the financial implication due to settlement or verdict outcome at this stage but expected the defense costs to breach the materiality threshold in the near future.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for additional details outside of normal business hours.

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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