We have helped to secure more than $80 billion in jury verdicts and settlements since 1955.
The Paraquat lawsuits claim that the use of the herbicide Paraquat can cause Parkinson’s Disease.
We are accepting clients who have had significant exposure to Paraquat and have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.
We have been handling lawsuits against the world’s largest companies since 1955. Each year we teach 1,500 attorneys how to successfully handle these cases. We are listed in Best Lawyers in America and The National Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame.
In the 1980s, an experiment in Southern California revealed that MPTP, a heroin contaminant, caused users to suffer symptoms like those associated with Parkinson’s disease. The experiment showed that the heroin contaminant destroyed dopamine neurons, which are the same neurons that suffer damage in Parkinson’s disease patients. MPTP and Paraquat share similar chemical structures.
In 1997, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that exposure to Paraquat during the mixing, loading, and application of the herbicide and during the post-application process represented the primary route of exposure to the chemical compound. The agency further suggested that despite the herbicide not being registered for residential use, such exposure is possible for individuals who live near farms where the herbicide is used.
Over the past 20 years, the scientific community has stepped up its examination of the effects of Paraquat exposure on humans, and specifically the risk of Parkinson’s disease.
In 2009, research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology revealed that any exposure to Paraquat within 1,600 feet of a home resulted in a heightened Parkinson’s disease risk of 75 percent.
In 2011, the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, in association with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, published results from a robust study of Parkinson’s disease cases and pesticides. Within this study, Paraquat emerged as a significant concern.
Parkinson’s disease was connected to groups of pesticides that block mitochondrial complex and those that cause oxidative stress. The way Paraquat works is to produce intracellular molecules that damage cells by causing oxidative stress. The study concluded that “Parkinson’s disease was strongly associated with” Paraquat. The authors further underscored that the potential for exposure to Paraquat reaches beyond the occupational/agricultural environment and that many people may be exposed to the pesticide without even being aware of its presence in their environments.
In 2014, the Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology published findings related to Environmental Toxins and Parkinson’s Disease. The review reported five case-control studies that revealed a greater risk of Parkinson’s disease in individuals who had experienced exposure to Paraquat. Pesticide applicators who had applied Paraquat suffered twice the risk of Parkinson’s disease than the general population.
The review also highlighted a marked increased risk of Parkinson’s disease in people who had been exposed to both Paraquat and a certain type of fungicide called fungicide maneb. Finally, study participants who lacked an active copy of a specific gene (missing in 20 percent of Caucasians and 40 percent of Asians) suffered a heightened risk of Paraquat toxicity.
In 2016, the EPA announced it would be re-evaluating Paraquat, including the potential link to Parkinson’s disease.
On July 24, 2017, the Unified Parkinson’s Advocacy Council sent a letter to the EPA, in advance of the agency’s Paraquat registration review. The letter, signed by all members of the council, listed a laundry list of facts that connect Paraquat with the development of Parkinson’s disease symptoms and pathology and concluded by urging the EPA to deny Paraquat’s reregistration.
The letter further emphasized the economic costs to a person suffering from Parkinson’s disease, such as:
On October 6, 2017, a lawsuit was filed against Syngenta and Growmark, the manufacturers of Paraquat. The complaint was filed on behalf of farmers and agricultural workers who had developed Parkinson’s disease after being exposed to Paraquat. Since the filing of the original claim, Chevron Chemical has been added as a defendant in the lawsuit.
In 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Toxicology Program (NTP) announced its protocol for a review of Paraquat dichloride exposure and Parkinson’s disease. Acknowledging that hundreds of studies had investigated the link between Paraquat exposure and Parkinson’s Disease, the review will attempt to map evidence that associates the herbicide with Parkinson’s disease.
In February 2021, Ellis Pratt filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. According to the complaint, the plaintiff had been regularly exposed to Paraquat while he worked mixing the herbicide and applying it to crops on farmland. From 1964 to 1974, Pratt endured this exposure, often coming into contact with the herbicide on his skin. He did not know of the danger of this exposure.
After suffering multiple symptoms, the plaintiff was officially diagnosed with kidney disease in 2021. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that once Paraquat enters the human body, it can travel to several areas and cause toxic chemical reactions. Included in the CDC advisory is the fact that ingesting even small to medium amounts of the herbicide can cause kidney failure.
Pratt’s complaint alleges that the defendants—Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC., Syngenta AG, and Chevron U.S.A., Inc.—either knew or should have known of the risk of harm Paraquat promotes.
In another lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on May 2021, plaintiff Edwin Edwards asserted similar claims. Edwards applied Paraquat as an herbicide starting in 1975 and suffered repeated exposure to the substance, as well as inhaling, ingesting, and absorbing it into his body.
Edward was later diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. A study published in September 2019 in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health supports earlier research showing the link between Paraquat exposure and the development of Parkinson’s disease. According to the 2019 report, the occurrence of Parkinson’s disease was found to be 25 percent greater in participants who had been exposed to the herbicide.
In June 2021, a couple from Fort Worth, Texas, filed a lawsuit against the same defendants. According to the complaint, the plaintiff, David Tackel was exposed to Paraquat as part of his job on the Rock Island Railroad in 1970. The plaintiff regularly distributed the herbicide around the railroad bridges. In his later role as water engineer for the railroad, Tackel worked in a 10’ x 12’ room where Paraquat was stored. The plaintiff was eventually diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
He accuses the defendants of making, marketing, and selling a product that they knew causes Parkinson’s disease and of deliberately concealing the risks of the herbicide and hiding evidence of its dangers from government safety agencies.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease after having significant exposure to Paraquat, then we will be seeking the following damages for you:
Our law firm has been in existence for more than 65 years, and is considered a national leader in this type of litigation. We have received well over 150 jury verdicts throughout the country in the amount of $1 million or more, and achieved verdicts and settlements in excess of $30 billion.
We have been appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee by the judge overseeing the federal lawsuits involving Paraquat. This means that we are directly involved in the national investigation and discovery that will hopefully result in a positive outcome for the individuals injured by this product.
We are one of the six law firms that first exposed the dangers of DuPont’s chemical C8, and reached a $670 million settlement with the company on behalf of those injured as a result of C8 being dumped into the Ohio River and the air in West Virginia.
We are the founder of Mass Torts Made Perfect, which is a national seminar attended by approximately 1000 lawyers twice per year where we help teach the successful handling of lawsuits against the largest companies in the world. For more information, please visit our About Us section.
Our lawyers provide absolutely free confidential consultations, and if we are fortunate enough for you to hire us, we never will charge you any fees or costs unless you first recover.
The contingency fee we charge ranges from 20% to 40% depending upon how much we recover for you. To review a summary of our fees and costs, click Fees & Costs.
To contact us for a free consult, you can call us at (800) 277-1193. You also can request a consultation by clicking Free & Confidential Paraquat Consultation Form, which form will be immediately reviewed by one of our attorneys handling the Paraquat litigation.
In June 2021, an MDL for Paraquat was formed with all federal cases involving Paraquat being transferred to the Southern District of Illinois to be heard before Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel. Our law firm is serving as on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for the MDL. As of May 16, 2022, more than 1,100 lawsuits were pending in the MDL.
The creation of an MDL is the first step in the litigation process that starts the settlement negotiations. Once the MDL has been formed, discovery of the facts and trials can begin, which then leads to serious settlement discussions.
April 1, 2022
BBC News reports that as United States agricultural workers push through Paraquat litigation, British farmers have called for a ban on the production of the toxic herbicide in the UK. The farmworkers urged this action based on studies linking the popular weedkiller to Parkinson’s Disease. (BBC News)
March 21, 2022
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois Chief Judge Rosentengel issued an amended protocol for the selection of bellwether trial cases, ordering that limited fact discovery for the 16 selected trial cases be completed by March 31, 2022. Parties are to rank the 16 cases in order of preference by April 8, 2022. (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois)
February 14, 2022
A federal judge in Southern Illinois ruled that hundreds of lawsuits against Syngenta Corp, and Chevron USA will move forward in the Paraquat multidistrict litigation (MDL). Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss claims for strict product liability, negligence, breach of implied warranty and violation of several states’ consumer protection laws. The federal judge did, however, reject plaintiffs’ public nuisance count (Reuters).
November 22, 2021
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., presented a bill that would ban the use of paraquat herbicides, neonicotinoid insecticides and organophosphate insecticides. The legislation would update the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act of 1972, or FIFRA, and beef up safety measures for agricultural workers through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
April 12, 2021
Plaintiffs in federal lawsuits against Syngenta and Chevron asked the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate cases for pretrial proceedings. Currently, a minimum of 14 lawsuits are spread across six different federal district courts. All complaints allege that exposure the toxic weedkiller caused plaintiffs to develop Parkinson’s Disease.
The herbicide Paraquat has been commercially available since 1962, and is one of the most widely used herbicides around the world. It’s utilized to control weeds and as a post-harvest drying agent.
As a restricted-use herbicide, Paraquat can be mixed, loaded, and/or applied only by individuals who have completed an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved training program. The herbicide is associated with a high potential for misuse, as well as poisonings.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) follows Paraquat because the agency considers it to be more toxic than other herbicides. The chemical’s toxicity manifests through ingestion, skin-absorption, and inhalation. Besides causing burns, the herbicide is known as a possible cause of birth defects and cancer, as well as of Parkinson’s Disease.
According to a June 2019 article in Environmental Health, Paraquat is one of only two herbicides still being used in the U.S. that have already been banned or are in the process of being phased out in China, EU, and Brazil.
Paraquat is applied directly to plants as a spray that kills the leaves with direct contact. The compound is inactivated when it makes contact with soil.
The pesticide is sprayed as a mechanism for clearing fields before crops are planted, as well as for the purpose of destroying marijuana crops in Mexico and the U.S.
According to the Unified Parkinson’s Advisory Council, Paraquat is also used as an herbicide for weeds that have developed a resistance to Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides.
With $640 million in global sales reported in 2011, use of Paraquat has recently been experiencing a sales increase as a result of the rise in high-profile Roundup lawsuits, as well as an increase in the number of glyphosate-resistant weeds.
Parkinson’s disease is a disabling neurodegenerative disorder with a human onset in mid to later years in life. Effects to the motor system include tremors in the arms and legs, impaired coordination and balance, slow movements, and rigidity of the body and limbs. Such effects are attributed to the progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the brain.
In the realm of neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson’s disease is the second most common. The disease is chronic and progressive, with only partial relief of symptoms from today’s medical therapies. As the world is experiencing an increasingly aging population, we have seen a greater prevalence of Parkinson’s disease, particularly in relatively newer developed countries, like India and China.
Genetic factors play a causal role in a small percentage of Parkinson’s disease cases, but the main cause of Parkinson’s disease has remained a mystery for years. In relatively recent years, an increasing number of scientific studies have connected Parkinson’s disease to environmental exposures, such as pesticides.
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