Paraquat Lawsuit Settled a Day Before Start of Landmark Trial
The first major trial in the U.S. over claims that paraquat is tied to Parkinson’s disease has been quelled following a surprise settlement.
According to a report by The New Lede, Syngenta, the maker of the widely used herbicide, has agreed to settle the case just a day before the trial was scheduled to begin.
The progress of that trial, which was to take place in Philadelphia court, was closely watched as a bellwether for the wider litigation. Thousands of paraquat lawsuits are currently active in both federal and state courts.
“Jury trials like these can go on for weeks and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Both sides face big risks, especially a company with thousands of similar cases waiting,” said Whitney Ray Di Bona, attorney and consumer safety advocate at Drugwatch. “Right now, public trust in pesticide companies is very low, as activists and environmental groups warn about toxins and their effects. These last-minute settlements are probably part of Syngenta’s broader plan to avoid a public trial.”
This is not the first time that Syngenta has moved to keep a paraquat case from going before a jury. In July 2025, the company settled a similar case in Philadelphia court, just weeks before its scheduled start date.
Multiple paraquat cases were also settled for about $187 million before they could advance to trial in 2021.
Settlement for Thousands of Paraquat Cases Could Be Nearing
As Syngenta has worked to settle individual cases as they approach trial, a wider settlement that could cover thousands of cases is also being finalized.
That settlement would apply to the paraquat multidistrict litigation (MDL), where more than 6,000 lawsuits have been filed and grouped before one judge for coordinated proceedings.
In early 2025, both sides in the litigation agreed to a settlement framework. The judge overseeing these lawsuits then paused much of the work on these cases to allow lawyers to focus on finalizing the settlement.
Nearly a year later, that work continues. The hold on the MDL is currently slated to last into March. More information on the potential settlement could be revealed once that pause expires.
Paraquat Lawsuits Claim Connection to Parkinson’s Disease
Paraquat lawsuits have been filed over claims that exposure to the highly toxic herbicide could lead to the development of Parkinson’s disease.
Research in the International Journal of Epidemiology has shown that exposure to paraquat could increase the risk of Parkinson’s.
Paraquat has already been banned in the United Kingdom, the European Union, China and dozens of other countries, but continues to be commonly used across the United States.
Concerns over Parkinson’s disease are largely tied to agricultural workers who spend significant time around the herbicide.
