Paraquat Lawsuit Attorneys

Diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease After Exposure to Paraquat? Oliver Bell Group can Help

One small sip of paraquat can kill you – and there is no antidote. With this information, it should come as no surprise that even “safe” exposure to paraquat can cause serious health problems. Most notably, paraquat exposure has been linked to Parkinson’s disease.

If you have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease after using paraquat for work or living near a facility that uses paraquat, the Oliver Bell Group can help you recover compensation for your medical bills, missed wages, and other losses.

What is Paraquat?

Also known by brand-names Gramaxone, Blanco, Bonfire Herbicide, Devour, Firestorm, Hemquat, Para-SHOT, Parazone, and Quik-Quat; paraquat (dipyridylium) is a highly toxic weed killer (herbicide). In the United States, paraquat appears as a liquid that is dyed blue, has a sharp odor, and causes vomiting when ingested.

Paraquat is a restricted use pesticide (RUP) that can only be purchased and used by licensed applicators. As such, licensed applicators of paraquat are the people most at risk for exposure.

Ingestion is the most common form of exposure that leads to paraquat poisoning, but poisoning is also possible via skin exposure and inhalation. That being said, the most severe exposure occurs over time, and long-term paraquat use has been linked to reduced lung function, adverse respiratory effects, cancer, and Parkinson’s disease.

The link between paraquat and Parkinson’s disease, in particular, is well-documented, which is why we encourage all licensed applicators of paraquat who have developed Parkinson’s disease to call our nationwide paraquat lawyers.

The Link Between Paraquat and Parkinson’s Disease

The American Journal of Epidemiology first linked paraquat exposure to Parkinson’s disease in 2009, finding that exposure to paraquat within 550 yards of a home increases the risk of Parkinson’s disease by 75%. In June of 2011, Environmental Health Perspectives published that paraquat and rotenone were “positively associated with Parkinson’s disease, and in July of that same year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that people who used rotenone and paraquat “developed Parkinson’s disease approximately 2.5 times more often than non-users.”

Research regarding the link between paraquat and Parkinson’s disease has continued to be unfavorable over time. In 2016, the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society found that individuals with a certain genetic variation are 11 times more likely to develop Parkinson’s after paraquat exposure, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would investigate the health risks associated with paraquat. Later that year (December 2016), Nature Chemical Biology published that paraquat “generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), which causes [the] cell death” linked to Parkinson’s disease.

By 2017, organizations like the Unified Parkinson’s Advocacy Council urged the EPA to end the use of paraquat in the United States on account of its link to Parkinson’s disease. Although paraquat is prohibited in Britain and the European Union and has been linked to scandals involving murder, suicide, and contaminated marijuana in the U.S. and worldwide, the EPA reapproved its use in October 2020.

Failure to Warn

Syngenta is a Swiss-owned pesticide giant and the largest manufacturer of paraquat – distributed under the name Gramoxone® – but the controversial herbicide has not been allowed in Switzerland since 1989. Despite the research connecting paraquat to Parkinson’s disease, this manufacturer (and others) have never conducted adequate research nor warned consumers of the link between paraquat and Parkinson’s disease.

Consequently, many Parkinson’s patients are coming forward with lawsuits, citing failure to warn, failure to ensure worker protection, negligent disregard of potential risks, and decades of misrepresentation of paraquat’s “safety”.

With product liability lawsuits and mass torts, the Oliver Bell Group is helping victims come forward.

Who Can File a Paraquat Lawsuit?

As we mentioned earlier, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

“Licensed applicators of paraquat are the people most at risk for exposure.”

You can file a paraquat lawsuit if you have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and worked as a:

  • Farmer
  • Farmworker
  • Herbicide applicator
  • Chemical mixer
  • Tank filler

The study from the American Journal of Epidemiology also indicated the risk of paraquat exposure for individuals living around farming communities, so these individuals may also have legal claims. Call or message the Oliver Bell Group today for your free consultation.