Monsanto was found guilty of poising a farmer in a French court. A 2012 ruling in the chemical poisoning case was upheld on Thursday. The farmer told the court that he suffered from neurological problems after inhaling the Lasso weedkiller sold by the biotech giant.
The Lyon appeals court decision confirmed the original judgment finding Monsanto guilty. The court ruled that the biotech manufacturer was “responsible” for the chemical poisoning and intoxication of the French farmer. The agriculture industry leader was also ordered to fully compensate Paul Francois, the grain grower who launched the lawsuit, NewsOxy reports.
Monsanto is vowed not to back down, even after the appeals court guilty verdict. An attorney for the company announced plans to pursue the case in the highest appeals court in the country. The manufacturer claims that the French court did not find even a casual link between the farmer’s accidental exposure and his medical issues.
Paul Francois stated that he suffered headaches, memory loss, and stammered, after inhaling Lasso weedkiller in 2004. The French farmer blames Monsanto for not placing appropriate warning labels on the chemical herbicide.
The Monsanto Lasso weedkiller was first developed in the 1960s and has been used to control broadleaf weeds and unwanted grasses in farm field France banned the use of the chemical herbicide in 2007 after Belgium, Great Britain, and Canada has terminated use of the biotech product.
A representative for the GMO manufacturer stated that use of the Lasso weedkiller was phased out by Monsanto in the United States several years ago, “for commercial reasons,” Fox News reports.
“We are speaking about modest sums of money or even nonexistent. He already received indemnities (by insurers) and there is a fundamental rule that says that one does not compensate twice for a loss, if any,” Monsanto attorney Jean-Daniel Bretzner said.
Monsanto critics have attempted to get the company’s other top-selling chemical herbicide banned. Roundup Ready contains glyphosate and neonicotinoids which some feel are harmful both to humans and the bees which pollinate 70 percent of the food we eat. Bees have been dying off in record numbers since 2005. Earlier this year the World Health Organization stated that glyphosate is “ probably carcinogenic to humans .”
As previously reported by the Inquisitr , Superweeds , possibly caused by genetically modified plants and glyphosate chemical pesticides, are a growing problem for American farmers. Increased exposure to chemical herbicides has often been blamed for the towering and light-blocking weeds, which can grow up to 10 feet tall.
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