Paraquat Lawsuits May Be Consolidated To Decide On The Science

Studies that point to a connection between the living and working near farms that spray paraquat and developing Parkinson's disease will

Monday, May 3, 2021 - Now that it seems that the worse of the pandemic is behind us, judges are processing the backlog of cases that are clogging their dockets. In California, for example, cases that involve plaintiffs that are elderly or have terminal illnesses are given priority and moved up to the front of the line and are heard first. High-profile cases and those involving personal injury and deaths must also be considered as they have the potential to include thousands of plaintiffs once the word gets out into the media. Paraquat lawsuits are front and center in the legal system as people with Parkinson's disease accuse Syngenta of failing to warn them of the dangers of coming into contact with the weed killer.

Paraquat lawsuits will most likely be consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL) as judges will hold hearings to consider the matter as early as May 2021, in Washington DC, via teleconference. MDL is not the same thing as a class action lawsuit as every case is considered individually or in small groups with very similar circumstances. Daubert hearings allow judges to concentrate on the complexities of the scientific facts before trials begin and allow only the expert witnesses that are most credible to go before a jury. Thousands of people that suffer from Parkinson's disease that have been exposed to paraquat may come forward and file personal injury lawsuits against Syngenta, the maker of the deadly chemical defoliant.

More than 50 countries have banned paraquat, although the US Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency stand by its safety if used as directed. Farmers are also advocates of using the herbicide because it helps to reduce the cost of maintaining their crops. Farmers use paraquat on soybeans, corn, and cotton. Most insidious is the massive use of the weed killer for crop dissection. Crop dissection is spraying large amounts of paraquat on cotton crops at the time of harvest, so the yield is as large as possible. People that live and work in the neighborhood that surrounds farms that use paraquat are concerned about the aerosol spraying of paraquat drifting over their homes and businesses and also the chemical's runoff into nearby streams, rivers, and lakes.

There are a growing number of scientific studies that back up claims that people living near one of the thousands of farms that use paraquat have a three-fold chance of developing Parkinson's disease. Science Daily.com tells of the important findings of researchers that allege there is a connection between agrochemicals like paraquat and the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. "Previous studies have found an association between two commonly used agrochemicals (paraquat and maneb) and Parkinson's disease. Now a professor has determined that low-level exposure to pesticides disrupts cells in a way that mimics the effects of mutations known to cause Parkinson's disease. Adding the effects of the chemicals to a predisposition for Parkinson's disease drastically increases the risk of disease onset," according to the report.

Lawyers for Paraquat Lawsuits

Attorneys handling Paraquat Lawsuits for leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and multiple myeloma offer free, no-obligation case review for individuals and families who believe they may have grounds to file a paraquat Parkinson's lawsuit. Working on a contingency basis, these attorneys are committed to never charging legal fees unless they win compensation in your paraquat Parkinson's lawsuit. The product liability litigators handling Roundup claims at the Onder Law Firm have a strong track record of success in representing families harmed by dangerous drugs and consumer products.