Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning in France

chattymatty

Guest
A French court on Monday declared U.S. biotech giant Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning of a French farmer, a judgment that could lend weight to other health claims against pesticides.

In the first such case heard in court in France, grain grower Paul Francois, 47, says he suffered neurological problems including memory loss, headaches and stammering after inhaling Monsanto?s Lasso weedkiller in 2004.

He blames the agri-business giant for not providing adequate warnings on the product label.

The ruling was given by a court in Lyon, southeast France, which ordered an expert opinion of Francois?s losses to establish the amount of damages.

"It is a historic decision in so far as it is the first time that a (pesticide) maker is found guilty of such a poisoning," François Lafforgue, Francois?s lawyer, told Reuters.

Monsanto said it was disappointed by the ruling and would examine whether to appeal the judgment.

"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.

Read more at http://agcanada.com/daily/monsanto-guilty-of-chemical-poisoning-in-france/
 

henry

Guest
U.S. agribusiness giant Monsanto said Tuesday it will appeal a French court ruling that found it responsible for the poisoning of a farmer who inhaled a weed killer, in the first such case to reach court in France.

A court in Lyon, southeast France, ruled Monday that Monsanto was guilty of poisoning grain grower Paul Francois, 47, who suffered from memory loss, headaches and stammering after inhaling the Lasso weedkiller in 2004.

The farmer accused the company of not providing adequate safety warnings on the product label.

"Monsanto is going to appeal this verdict. We are disappointed by the court?s decision," Yann Fichet, head of institutional relations at Monsanto France, said.

More at http://agcanada.com/daily/monsanto-says-to-appeal-french-poisoning-verdict/
 

chattymatty

Guest
By Catherine Lagrange and Marion Douet

LYON/PARIS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - A French court on Monday declared U.S. biotech giant Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning of a French farmer, a judgment that could lend weight to other health claims against pesticides.

In the first such case heard in court in France, grain grower Paul Francois, 47, says he suffered neurological problems including memory loss, headaches and stammering after inhaling Monsanto's Lasso weedkiller in 2004.

He blames the agri-business giant for not providing adequate warnings on the product label.

The ruling was given by a court in Lyon, southeast France, which ordered an expert opinion of Francois's losses to establish the amount of damages.

"It is a historic decision in so far as it is the first time that a (pesticide) maker is found guilty of such a poisoning," François Lafforgue, Francois's lawyer, told Reuters.

Monsanto said it was disappointed by the ruling and would examine whether to appeal the judgment.


"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.

Previous health claims from farmers have foundered because of the difficulty of establishing clear links between illnesses and exposure to pesticides.

Francois and other farmers suffering from illness set up an association last year to make a case that their health problems should be linked to their use of crop protection products.

The agricultural branch of the French social security system says that since 1996, it has gathered farmers' reports of sickness potentially related to pesticides, with about 200 alerts a year.

But only about 47 cases have been recognised as due to pesticides in the past 10 years. Francois, who suffers from neurological problems, obtained work invalidity status only after a court appeal.


More at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/13/monsanto-guilty-paul-francois_n_1274326.html
 

aginfo

Junior Member
Messages
692
Crop chemical victims speak out in Paris

Pesticide victims descended on the Salon de l?Agriculture in Paris (SIA) yesterday to tell the public the truth about the dangers of agricultural chemicals. Their first stop was the Union de l?Industrie de la Protection des Plantes (UIPP) stand, the industry body that promotes chemicals for crops in France.

In a statement the Phyto-Victimes association declared: ?For the first time in France ? and probably anywhere in the world ? professional users of pesticides, direct victims of these products, are uniting and acting together as an association.? Describing the visit to the UIPP stand as ?symbolic?, the membership hoped to open an honest debate and identify the real culprits.

Decades of glossy advertising suggested better crop performance, rural tranquility and safety was a simple matter of spraying pesticides. ?This marketing pitch promoted certain practices while skirting round the product?s potential danger,? warns Phyto-Victimes (in French).

?In those adverts we?d see confident farmers filling their spray tanks with bare hands; spraying crops with the tractor window wide open; moving around while spraying without protective clothing or a mask. All these images contributed to trivialising the use of pesticides and could have led to unsafe practices.? Today, after all that reassuring advertising, the UIPP is now referring affected farmers back to the precautions that should have been taken to handle these products.

An editorial in the French paper Le Monde suggested a striking parallel between pesticides and asbestos. Could the Phyto-Victimes be just the tip of a pesticide scandal iceberg, the paper wondered.

In the case of Paul Francois, who was exposed to a now-banned pesticide in 2004, the French justice system found in his favour on February 13. The case is still subject to an appeal by the manufacturer, but his condition was recognised as an occupational illness in 2008.


Caroline Chenet explained that her husband died of leukaemia - recognised as an occupational illness. Official recognition that victims of pesticides are suffering occupational illnesses is starting to happen in France, helped by the efforts of the Phyto-Victimes association. Photo Credit: Oliver Picard
Yesterday, about 15 Phyto-Victimes, some of them widows of pesticide victims argued their corner on the UIPP stand in Paris. Behind their protest was the educational stand for ?Passion ? céréale,? where school groups and teaching staff are told about the profitable upside of monoculture cereals. The stand is supported by industrial farming and plays a part in the French government?s national food and nutrition plan.

Against the backdrop of a slogan ?Bouger, c?est facile? (Move, it?s easy) the protesters reminded UIPP staff and warned visitors that pesticides came with a downside. Denis used to farm 97 hectares: ?The slow accumulation of pesticides in my body triggered a cancer and deprived me of the use of my legs,? he told journalists. Today, he is in a wheelchair.

More at http://www.arc2020.eu/front/2012/02...aign=crop-chemical-victims-speak-out-in-paris
 

james

Guest
Monsanto Wins Case Against Organic Growers

Citing flaws in the federal ruling, the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association vows to appeal its case agribusiness giant Monsanto.

From Europe to the U.S., Monsanto has really been working hard to stay in the news lately. With that said, the contexts could not be more different. The EU has been actively fighting genetically modified crops, and two weeks ago a French court found Monsanto guilty for its products? role in the chemical poisoning of a farmer. In the United States, on the other hand, Monsanto is unsurprisingly coming out on top. This week a federal judge dismissed OSGATA et al vs. Monsanto, effectively ruling in favor of the corporation.

The lawsuit, filed by the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) on behalf of the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association and over 80 other organizations, was drawn up in an effort to curb the corporation?s own enthusiasm for suing farmers who are found to be growing Monsanto-patented crops without paying royalties. The plaintiffs in OSGATA et al vs. Monsanto sought to protect organic farmers from being sued by Monsanto in the event that their fields are unintentionally cross-pollinated with genetic material from neighboring farms growing Monsanto crops.

Read more at http://www.foodanddrinkdigital.com/production/monsanto-wins-case-against-organic-growers
 
 
Top