Herbicide case in France could have far-reaching implications
A French court has found the Monsanto bio-technology company legally responsible for the poisoning of a farmer with one of its herbicides in 2004.
Monsanto said last week it would appeal the court decision in Lyon, which told Monsanto to compensate Paul François, 47, a cereal farmer who inhaled fumes from Lasso, a Monsanto weedkiller.
The company’s lawyers had argued that poisoning couldn’t be proved because Francois’s symptoms didn’t appear until months after inhalation.
The farmers’ lawyers argued that Monsanto was negligent, because significant traces of monochlorobenzene, a toxic component of Lasso not mentioned on its principal label or packaging, were found in his body.
Francois had given up farming after neurological and muscular problems.
