A French
court finds biotech giant Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning. This
groundbreaking verdict could influence future claims.
A French
court on Monday declared US biotech giant Monsanto guilty of the chemical
poisoning of a French farmer. This is the first such claim to reach a French
court and could lend weight to other health claims against pesticide producers.
"Monsanto
is responsible for Paul Francois' suffering after he inhaled the Lasso product
... and must entirely compensate him," said the judgment from the court in
the southeastern city of Lyon.
Francois
Lafforgue, lawyer for the plaintiff, labeled the verdict an "historic
decision in so far as it is the first time that a (pesticide) maker is found
guilty of such a poisoning."
Grain
farmer Paul Francois, 47, says he suffered neurological problems including
memory loss, headaches and stammering after inhaling Monsanto's Lasso weed
killer in 2004.
He blames
the agri-business giant for not providing adequate warnings on the product
label.
The court
ordered an expert opinion of the effects on the farmer to establish an amount
for damages.
Monsanto
said Monday that it was disappointed with the ruling and would look into a
possible appeal.
"Monsanto
always considered that there were not sufficient elements to establish a causal
relationship between Paul Francois's symptoms and a potential poisoning,"
the company's lawyer, Jean-Philippe Delsart, said.
Fewer
chemicals used today
Previous
health claims from farmers have suffered in their ability to establish clear
links between illnesses and exposure to pesticides.
Monsanto is among the world's largest agricultural biotech company's |
In the
Francois case, it was easier to pinpoint a specific incident - his inhalation
of the Lasso when cleaning the tank of his crop sprayer - whereas other farmers
are trying to argue the effects of accumulated exposures to various products.
This case
harks back to a time when crop-protection chemicals were more heavily used in
Europe. The EU has since banned a large number of substances considered
dangerous.
Monsanto's
Lasso, for example, was banned in France in 2007 following an EU directive
after the product had already been withdrawn in some other countries.
Effects on
others considered
The French
association of crop protection companies, UIPP, said tests are done regularly
to weigh cancer risks in humans.
"I
think if we had a major health problem with pesticides, we would have already
known about it," Jean-Charles Bocquet, UIPP's managing director, said.
Francois,
meanwhile, is convinced he is just one of many to suffer effects from the
pesticide. "I am alive today, but part of the farming population is going
to be sacrificed and is going to die because of this," Francois said.
France's
health and environment safety agency (ANSES), meanwhile, is conducting a study
on farmers' health, with results expected next year.
tm/dfm (Reuters, AFP)
The French
farmer Paul Francois, who says he suffers memory
loss and stammering after
inhaling a Monsanto pesticide.
(Photograph: Jean-Philippe
Ksiazek/AFP/Getty Images)
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