Paraquat Lawsuit Settled Weeks Before Start of Landmark Trial
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A key trial over claims that paraquat is tied to the development of Parkinson’s disease will no longer take place.
Syngenta, which manufactures the popular pesticide, agreed to settle a paraquat lawsuit filed on behalf of plaintiff Douglas Nemeth just a few weeks before the trial was scheduled to begin in Philadelphia court.
Nemeth had claimed that he developed Parkinson’s due to his decades of exposure to paraquat when he worked as a farmer. The trial was set to start in August.
The settlement terms were not disclosed, but it comes as Syngenta looks to resolve much of the existing paraquat litigation.
Thousands of lawsuits have been filed over the pesticide’s potential ties to Parkinson’s. About 6,300 of those cases have been grouped together in multidistrict litigation (MDL), consolidating the lawsuits before one judge in federal court.
In April, court documents showed that a tentative settlement agreement had been reached for the cases in the MDL. In the months since, both sides have continued work on finalizing that agreement.
Judge Nancy Rosenstengel, who is overseeing the cases, has paused much of the work for cases in the MDL to allow the parties to focus on completing the settlement. That pause continues into late July.
Until the settlement is finalized, we may not know key details, including the amount to be paid out or exactly how many cases are covered.
Syngenta would not be the first company to agree to a major settlement over pesticide health concerns. In 2020, Bayer announced a settlement worth around $10 billion over claims that Roundup weed killer may be linked to cancer.
Paraquat Lawsuits Claim Pesticide Is Tied to Parkinson’s
While it is still widely used in the United States, paraquat is banned in dozens of other countries. It’s highly toxic, and even a small sip can be lethal.
Paraquat lawsuits have been filed over the last few years by people who claim that working with or around the pesticide caused them to develop Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson’s is a nervous system disorder that affects control over your movements. It can significantly worsen over time.
A study published in Environmental Health Perspectives in 2011 found that exposure to paraquat may play a role in the development of Parkinson’s.
Other research has yielded similar findings, including a 2024 study by UCLA researchers that found exposure to paraquat increases the risk of Parkinson’s.
Syngenta continues to publicly refute these claims.
