There is plenty to hate about these companies. Don't get me wrong. Sometimes these companies are completely at fault whether from negligence or outright malice and should be sued into oblivion. It just isn't always a clear case. I am just not so sure about some of the claims. Yes, the victims are sympathetic. Nobody wants to see lives torn apart by these horrific health problems. The problem is that we are talking about a statistical correlations and not a direct causal relationships. It is not like you can say, "This level of exposure can create these known effects." Sometimes the ill effects are found in weird places that nobody ever expected like DDT affecting birds eggshells or mercury getting concentrated in some fish.
There is also a problem with the type of exposure of some of these products. There is a huge difference between someone coming in contact with a product that is highly concentrated and that which is diluted to normal use. Often these studies are conducted in where there is exposure to huge doses that would never be seen anywhere else. Look at the hysteria over asbestos. When they made the case about that, they made their case with people that worked in the plants with the air filled with the particles for decades.
When they bring these lawsuits, you have both sides bringing out paid experts saying contradictory things to make their case to a jury that doesn't have any basis to decide which ones to believe. They shop around for a venue that is most sympathetic to their claim. They bring out the most sympathetic victims that will tear your heart out and make you want to find someone at fault to make things right. Often companies are just the deep pockets that are available for juries to help people that have had their life ruined by health problems
There is no perfect safety. It is always a relative measure. How much safer is the product than what it replaced? Some of those were really nasty stuff. Is it a failure of the product or is a failure in the handling of the product? We use plenty of products that can be dangerous. Anyone remember the town of West where the fertilizer company blew up and pretty much wiped out the town in 2013? How about Bhopal, India where a leak from Union Carbide producing pesticides exposed half a million people and killed thousands?
Isn’t Georgia the same state trying to pass a law that protects Companies like Bayer/Monsanto from liability??!
Yes! That’s what the story is about!
Great artical !!
Excellent work, the harm glyphosate does is incalculable. I am amazed people & farmers still use it 😱
I always have trouble with this kind of lawsuit.
There is plenty to hate about these companies. Don't get me wrong. Sometimes these companies are completely at fault whether from negligence or outright malice and should be sued into oblivion. It just isn't always a clear case. I am just not so sure about some of the claims. Yes, the victims are sympathetic. Nobody wants to see lives torn apart by these horrific health problems. The problem is that we are talking about a statistical correlations and not a direct causal relationships. It is not like you can say, "This level of exposure can create these known effects." Sometimes the ill effects are found in weird places that nobody ever expected like DDT affecting birds eggshells or mercury getting concentrated in some fish.
There is also a problem with the type of exposure of some of these products. There is a huge difference between someone coming in contact with a product that is highly concentrated and that which is diluted to normal use. Often these studies are conducted in where there is exposure to huge doses that would never be seen anywhere else. Look at the hysteria over asbestos. When they made the case about that, they made their case with people that worked in the plants with the air filled with the particles for decades.
When they bring these lawsuits, you have both sides bringing out paid experts saying contradictory things to make their case to a jury that doesn't have any basis to decide which ones to believe. They shop around for a venue that is most sympathetic to their claim. They bring out the most sympathetic victims that will tear your heart out and make you want to find someone at fault to make things right. Often companies are just the deep pockets that are available for juries to help people that have had their life ruined by health problems
There is no perfect safety. It is always a relative measure. How much safer is the product than what it replaced? Some of those were really nasty stuff. Is it a failure of the product or is a failure in the handling of the product? We use plenty of products that can be dangerous. Anyone remember the town of West where the fertilizer company blew up and pretty much wiped out the town in 2013? How about Bhopal, India where a leak from Union Carbide producing pesticides exposed half a million people and killed thousands?
Yes, heard many radio ads this month in the heart of Ag country in northern FL.
The radio ad was so deceptive it almost had me fooled!
THANK YOU for bringing this to light so that we can spread the word.
It was bizarre, wasn't it? We almost couldn't believe it either.
Great reporting. Impossible to hate Monsanto enough