Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and its subsidiary DePuy has been ordered by a federal jury in Dallas to pay more than $1 billion to settle allegations that the company hid flaws in its Pinnacle hip implants that had to be surgically removed. [1]
Source: CNN
Donald Trump’s pick of Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney General could help solidify Bayer AG’s $66 billion purchase of Monsanto, which is currently undergoing state and federal antitrust investigations.
Source: EcoWatch
On November 9, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved dicamba, a dangerously toxic herbicide designed by Monsanto for its next generation biotech soy and cotton varieties. [1]
Source: National Pesticide Information Center
The approval means that farmers will be able to use the new Xtendimax with Vapor Grip Technology formulation of dicamba to help control weeds in their crops that have become resistant to glyphosate and PPO (protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitors). [2]
Several U.S. state attorneys general will join the pending federal antitrust investigations into the multi-billion dollar mergers between Bayer and Monsanto, and Dow and DuPont. [1]
The attorneys general will be able to provide data on how the prospective mergers – which are expected to be approved – would affect their jurisdictions and jointly conduct calls to gather information from the companies, their opponents, and supporters of the deals.
It appears that voters in Sonoma County, California, have banned genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by a margin of 56-44%, unofficial results show. In 2005, Sonoma County voters shot down a similar measure by 5%. The ban reflects changing attitudes about the biotech industry, and its impact on the environment and human health. [1]
Source: SocialMediaFeed.me
Sonoma joins five other California counties that have already passed GMO bans: Mendocino, Marin, Trinity, Humboldt, and Santa Cruz.
Bayer CropScience LP has agreed to pay Massachusetts $75,000 and caved in to the state’s demand that it stop saying that its neonicotinoid pesticides are like “giving a daily vitamin” to plants, when the chemicals have been linked with honeybee colony collapse disorder. [1]
Source: Compound Interest
New research from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) shows that 300 million children – 1 in 7 globally – live in areas with “toxic” levels of air pollution. [1] [2]
The poorer a child is, the more likely he or she is to be surrounded by filthy air, and the greater the likelihood that he or she will suffer health problems as a result.
Two new types of genetically modified (GM) potatoes were approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on October 28. The GM potatoes are designed to resist the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine.
Source: PotatoPro.com
The approval covers Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Co.’s Ranger Russet and Atlantic varieties of the company’s 2nd generation of Innate potatoes.
A huge chemical leak sent a large plume marching its way through the town of Atchison, Kansas, this morning, and authorities asked residents to shelter in place for nearly 2 hours.
Source: The Kansas City Star
Those in the plume area were told to shut their doors and windows and stay inside, while those in its path were evacuated. Residents were being instructed to avoid the area north of MGP Ingredients, where the leak originated. The Atchison County courthouse closed and employees were evacuated.
Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, have been banned in the United States since 1979, but a new study by researchers at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health shows that up to 14 million students in 26,000 U.S. public schools may still be exposed to the toxic industrial chemicals. [1
