French court finds Monsanto liable for farmer’s sickness

A French appeals court yesterday ruled that Bayer’s Monsanto business was liable for the health problems of a farmer who had inhaled a weedkiller product. Francois, who says he suffered neurological problems after accidentally inhaling the Lasso weedkiller in 2004, accused Monsanto of not providing adequate safety warnings. In a decade-long legal battle, Francois won rulings against Monsanto in 2012 and 2015, before France’s top court overturned those decisions and ordered a new hearing. The latest ruling on Thursday, however, did not determine compensation for the farmer. The ruling in the French case comes as Monsanto faces lawsuits in the United States over alleged cancer links to its glyphosate-based weedkillers.