Licensed Paraquat Applicators Are Developing Parkinson’s Disease and Filing Lawsuits

Thousands of trials will rest on the scientific connection between inhaling paraquat and developing neurological damage

Wednesday, June 22, 2022 - More than 1000 Paraquat Parkinson's disease lawsuits are pending, organized into multidistrict litigation (MDL) presided over by U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel, alleging the defoliant's makers Syngenta and Chevron failed to warn them that they could develop the deadly neurological disorder. Plaintiffs in the lawsuits are mostly farmers and farmworkers that abided by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) mandate that they take a course and obtain a license for safety's sake. The EPA's training, however, was not enough for many of the plaintiffs that developed Parkinson's disease who explain in court documents that fully complied with the EPA's safety orders yet still developed Parkinson's. One such plaintiff, an EPA-certified pesticide applicator, filed a Paraquat lawsuit that alleges that he developed Parkinson's disease despite taking the safety training and using personal protective equipment (PPE).

What is Parkinson's Disease? Parkinson's disease is defined in the dictionary as a progressive disease that gradually destroys the nervous system. Symptoms of the condition are tremors, muscular rigidity, and being slow to react to stimuli. Parkinson's disease takes time to progress and the symptoms are permanent and irreversible. The symptoms progress to life-threatening levels the older one gets. Scientists believe inhaling paraquat regularly over the long term kills the brain cells that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter chemical that facilitates communications between brain cells responsible for motor coordination. Parkinson's disease is defined as the "degeneration of the basal ganglia of the brain and a deficiency of the neurotransmitter dopamine," according to Oxford.

Several paraquat Parkinson's disease lawsuits have been selected by Judge Rosenstengel to go to trial in November 2022, and early 2023 to establish the merits of the cases and how juries may react to the scientific evidence linking inhaling paraquat to developing Parkinson's disease. It is alleged that regular exposure to paraquat by humans leads to Parkinson's disease, even if one is licensed and follows the safety guidelines of the EPA. Fifty countries including China, many in the European Union, and Switzerland have banned the use of paraquat herbicide thinking that the risks of human death and disease outweigh the economic benefits of allowing farmers to use the defoliant, however, the EPA fails to see the connection between using paraquat and getting Parkinson's disease saying that they have reviewed all scientific evidence available. The EPA recently renewed the paraquat license for 15 years. This comes despite the rates of Parkinson's disease mirroring the rate of increase in the use of paraquat. US News writes that leading scientists link paraquat and Parkinsons. "The global burden of Parkinson's more than doubled from 2.5 million people in 1990 to 6.1 million people by 2016. There are numerous environmental factors, including pesticides and paraquat, as well as other chemicals that have been linked to the disease," says Dr. Ray Dorsey, a professor of neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, and a co-author of "Ending Parkinson's Disease: A Prescription for Action," published in March 2020."

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.