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• CHALAÑUK and TERESCHUK v. MONSANTO, PHILIP MORRIS (PDF) 

INTRODUCTION

I. This lawsuit concerns children born with severe birth defects.

2. These children and their parents all reside in the Republic of Argentina, in the Province of Misiones. Misiones is located in the northeastern corner of Argentina where it borders both Brazil and Paraguay. This region is largely rural, agricultural and semi-tropical. It is notable as an area devoted to the cultivation of tobacco.

3. Annually, roughly 14,000 metric tons of tobacco is imported into the United States from Argentina. Most of the tobacco grown in Argentina is cultivated in Misiones.

4. The injured infant Plaintiffs are offspring of agricultural workers who at relevant times were engaged in the cultivation of tobacco as well as other crops.

5. Defendants are either corporations who wrongfully participated in the promotion, manufacture, design, sale, distribution and use of certain reproductively toxic herbicides, pesticides, insecticides and other chemical products which were used by the parental Plaintiffs in the cultivation of tobacco and other crops; and/or corporations who wrongfully participated in the promotion, cultivation, purchasing, design, sale and distribution of tobacco using the aforesaid toxins.

6. Plaintiffs contend that these Defendants, acting both individually and collectively, in violation of the laws of both Argentina and the United States, wrongfully caused the parental and infant Plaintiffs to be exposed to those chemicals and substances which they both knew, or should have known, would cause the infant offspring of the parental Plaintiffs to be born with devastating birth defects.

7. Plaintiffs further contend that this misconduct proximately caused the birth defects suffered by the injured Plaintiffs.

8. Moreover, Defendants wrongfully concealed information concerning the nature of their misconduct, and also made false or misleading statements respecting the safety of the exposures they were promoting. These statements were made for the purpose of inducing the parental Plaintiffs to acquiesce in the aforementioned exposures, secure in the "knowledge" that their potential offspring were being protected. Defendants were successful in achieving their desired result. By this conduct Defendants also both assumed and then breached duties to the infant plaintiffs.

9. The physical injuries suffered by the infant Plaintiffs and the damages suffered by all Plaintiffs are compensable under the laws of both Argentina and the United States.

10. The misconduct broadly described above was planned, organized and orchestrated by Defendants in the United States for the purpose (that was realized) of earning profits that were received by Defendants in the United States.

11. Defendants' misconduct was, at a minimum, executed with a conscious or reckless disregard for the safety and well-being of Plaintiffs and was motivated by simple greed.

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• HUPAN v. MONSANTO, PHILIP MORRIS (PDF)  

INTRODUCTION

1. This lawsuit concerns children born with severe birth defects.

2. These children and their parents all reside in the Republic of Argentina, in the Province of Misiones. Misiones is located in the northeastern corner of Argentina where it borders on both Brazil and Paraguay. This region is largely rural, agricultural and semi-tropical. It is notable as an area devoted to the cultivation of tobacco.

3. Annually, roughly 14,000 metric tons of tobacco is imported into the United States from Argentina. Most of the tobacco grown in Argentina is cultivated in Misiones.

4. The injured infant Plaintiffs are offspring of agricultural workers who at relevant times were engaged in the cultivation of tobacco as well as other crops.

5. Defendants are either corporations who wrongfully participated in the promotion, manufacture, design, sale, distribution and use of certain reproductively toxic herbicides, pesticides, insecticides and other chemical products which were used by the parental Plaintiffs in the cultivation of tobacco and other crops; and/or corporations who wrongfully participated in the promotion, cultivation, purchasing, design, sale and distribution of tobacco using the aforesaid toxins.

6, Plaintiffs contend that these Defendants, acting both individually and collectively, in violation of the laws of both Argentina and the United States, wrongfully caused the parental and infant Plaintiffs to be exposed to those chemicals and substances which they both knew, or should have known, would cause the infant offspring of the parental Plaintiffs to be born with devastating birth defects.

7. Plaintiffs further contend that this misconduct proximately caused the birth defects suffered by the injured Plaintiffs.

8. Moreover, Defendants wrongfully concealed information concerning the nature of their misconduct, and also made false or misleading statements respecting the safety of the exposures they were promoting. These statements were made for the purpose of inducing the parental Plaintiffs to acquiesce in the aforementioned exposures, secure in the "knowledge" that their potential offspring were being protected. Defendants were successful in achieving their desired result. By this conduct Defendants also both assumed and then breached duties to the infant plaintiffs.

9. The physical injuries suffered by the infant Plaintiffs and the damages suffered by all Plaintiffs are compensable under the laws of both Argentina and the United States.

10. The misconduct broadly described above was planned, organized and orchestrated by Defendants in the United States for the purpose (that was realized) of earning profits that were received by Defendants in the United States.

11. Defendants' misconduct was, at a minimum, executed with a conscious or reckless disregard of the safety and well-being of Plaintiffs and was motivated by simple greed.

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• Case ID: N12C-02-171 - ANTONIO EMILIO HUPAN ET AL V. ALLIANCE ONE NTERNAT 

Filing Date Description Name Monetary 14-FEB-2012 05:21 PM INIT FILING PERSONAL INJURY HAUPT, JOHN ZACHARY Entry: INITIAL FILING PERSONAL INJURY DATE DOCKETED: FEBRUARY 16, 2012 . . .

04-APR-2012

02:20 PM WRIT ISSUED

Entry: WRIT(S) ISSUED ON DATE DOCKETED: APRIL 5, 2012 1 WRIT ISSUED ON 04-04-2012 OF SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT FOR SERVICE ON MONSANTO COMPANY BY SERVING REGISTERED AGENT AT 2711 CENTERVILLE ROAD, SUITE 400, WILMINGTON, DE ACCEPTED BY: RAM TRANSACTION ID: 43474668

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• Monsanto and Big Tobacco Blamed for Birth Defects 

Monsanto, Philip Morris and other U.S. tobacco giants knowingly poisoned Argentinean tobacco farmers with pesticides, causing "devastating birth defects" in their children, dozens of workers claim in court.

The farmers, on their own behalf and for their injured children, sued Altria Group fka Philip Morris Cos., Philip Morris USA, Carolina Leaf Tobacco, Universal Corporation fka Universal Leaf Tobacco Company, Monsanto, and their affiliates and Argentine subsidiaries, in New Castle County Court.

The farmers grow tobacco on small family-owned farms in Misiones Province and sell it to U.S. tobacco distributors. Most of Argentina's tobacco is grown in Misiones, a rural northeastern province.

The farmers claim the tobacco companies asked them to use herbicides, pesticides and other toxic products made and distributed by Monsanto, and assured them the products were safe.

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• Imperial Tobacco: un chercheur obligé de dissimuler des preuves 

The research director of Imperial Tobacco was furious against the chief counsel of the company, which required him to get rid of scientific reports on the effects of tobacco on health, said on Tuesday in Superior Court.

The director, Patrick J. Dunn, expressed his anger against lawyers in 1994, in a document which was presented at trial in class action against Imperial Tobacco, Rothmans and JTI-McDonald / Benson & Hedges.

British American Tobacco (BAT), parent company of Imperial Tobacco, feared incriminating reports are filed in courts. BAT's lawyer has asked counsel of Imperial, Roger Ackman, to get rid of any reports of BAT who were in the offices of Imperial in Montreal.

"These damned business!"

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Woman sentenced for trafficking in counterfeit cigarettes 

US District Court Judge Sue Robinson sentenced 54 year old Su Lian Wu to 8 months in prison. Officials say on 6 different occasions between April and December of 2010 the six brought from New York City to Delaware 2580 cartons of counterfeit cigarettes, which were imported from China. They looked like the real thing and had counterfeit state tax stamps.

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Discarded cigarette fingered for apt. fire that sent 5 to hospital 

Elsmere Fire Company spokesman Frank Maule tells WDEL News crews were dispatched to the Silverbrook Apartments around 9:30 Friday night, and when they arrived, police were already on-scene.

2 Elsmere police officers were taken to Christiana for smoke inhalation, a firefighter suffered a slight arm injury, and the fire was under control in roughly half an hour.

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• Federal jury in Fla. decides in tobacco companies' favor 

A federal jury in Duval County, Fla., has decided in favor of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris USA in the first federal Engle progeny case to go to trial.

The cases have been scrutinized since they sprang from a decision in 2006 by the Florida Supreme Court that decertified a class-action lawsuit initially filed by Howard Engle. . . .

In the Duval case, Virginia Gollihue claimed her husband, Manuel, died from lung cancer at 53 after smoking at least two packs a day of the defendants' cigarettes for almost 38 years. She said his death was caused by his addiction to nicotine.

According to a statement by Philip Morris, the jury determined that "smoking was not the medical cause of the injury."

"The jury listened to the evidence we were allowed to present, used their common sense and reached the correct verdict," said Jeff Raborn, assistant general counsel of Reynolds.

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EDITORIAL: State buildings smoking ban overdue 

As unpleasant as a ban on smoking outside state office buildings will be for some Delawareans, the twofold benefit is irresistible.

The rise in residents' quitting a dangerous health habit directly linked to their tobacco addiction will continue.

And the residual benefits of slowing the growth of a $1 billion health care tab -- almost 40 percent of the state's budget -- created by smoking workers, retirees and Medicaid recipients can be aggressively attacked.

Making government campuses smoke-free removes the state's dubious role as an enabler of a habit that is both unhealthy and "will heavily burden future generations of taxpayers."

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EDITORIAL: Smoking ban at state buildings is long overdue  

As unpleasant as a ban on smoking outside state office buildings will be for some Delawareans, the twofold benefit is irresistible.

The rise in residents' quitting a dangerous health habit directly linked to their tobacco addiction will continue.

And the residual benefits of slowing the growth of a $1 billion health care tab -- almost 40 percent of the state's budget -- created by smoking workers, retirees and Medicaid recipients can be aggressively attacked.

Making government campuses smoke-free removes the state's dubious role as an enabler of a habit that is both unhealthy and "will heavily burden future generations of taxpayers." . . .

The grumblings from workers and others addicted to smoking are expected. But who says that compassionate, fiscally responsible government leadership is painless?

To its credit the state has pledged to promote a suite of programs and alliances for helping Delaware smokers to join so many other residents in gaining the courage to quit.

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VIDEO: Markell's planned smoking ban elicits some grumblings 

Charles Young, a 37-year smoker who quit seven months ago, doubts Gov. Jack Markell's planned ban on smoking outside state office buildings will have the desired effect of getting employees to kick the habit.

As with any form of prohibition, Young said, "they're going to do it anyway."

Still, the Division of Revenue employee recognizes the potential savings to taxpayers.

"I know since I quit, I'm more productive because I'm not out here smoking," said Young, who works in the Carvel State Building in downtown Wilmington, where dozens of workers huddle outside the entrances throughout the day to light up on their 15-minute breaks.

Markell is targeting their habit in his quest to slow the growing $1 billion annual health care bill for state workers, retirees and Medicaid recipients. Combined, they make up 40 percent of the state's population.

But the planned smoking ban, which can be implemented without a change in law, is already generating grumblings among state employees who smoke.

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VIDEO: New Castle smoke-free parks 

Smoke free parks are now the law in the City of New Castle.

A dozen local school children came out to highlight one purpose of the ban...keeping kids healthy.

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Winners, losers, and unanswered questions in smoke-free SA 

When the city rolled out its sweeping smoking ban this summer, eager to make the Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights list of smoke-free cities, the winners and losers were obvious. The winners: bars that already had sizable patios, cigar bars, and, many would argue, anyone with a set of lungs looking to imbibe clear of a carcinogenic cloud. Unaffected Alamo Heights' bar and restaurant district sits ready to catch cigarette-puffing refugees aching for a drag while they sip their cocktails. And despite inclusion in early drafts of the ordinance, VFW posts, the River Walk, and the Shrine of Texas Liberty itself all escaped the ban. But if you're an everyday pub, sports bar, or dive without a patio or enough space to build one: tough luck.

Judy Simpson, general manager at Finnegan's on US 281 near Thousand Oaks, wagered her neighborhood pub has taken a 25-30 percent hit in sales. The future's "looking a little better but not much," Simpson said, as she and the landlord hash out plans for a patio. . . .

Meanwhile, for Alibis on Commerce east of US 281 and two of the Blue Star bars, business has marched forward with nary a hiccup since each had patios before the smoke-ban rollout.

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New Castle County to ban smoking outdoors at three office complexes starting Jan. 3 

New Castle County government has announced that starting Jan. 3, 2012, smoking will be prohibited throughout the campuses of the three office complexes where most of the county's 1,400 employees work.

The policy will apply to employees and visitors at the Government Center/James H. Gilliam Building complex on Reads Way in Corporate Commons, the William J. Conner Building on Old Churchmans Road, and the Paul J. Sweeney Public Safety Building on U.S. 13, all in New Castle.

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Del. tops quit-friendly states for smokers 

While Delaware is ranked as the third most quit-friendly state for smokers in the American Lung Association's "Helping Smokers Quit: Tobacco Cessation Coverage 2011" report, a couple of its neighbors rank toward the bottom.

According to the ALA, there is an uneven patchwork of quit-smoking treatments and services made available nationwide. Among the states that are the least quit-friendly for smokers is Maryland, ranked tied for 42nd out of 45 states ranked.

States were ranked based on cessation coverage in Medicaid plans and state employee health plan coverage, cost per smoker for state-run quit lines and standards for private insurance coverage.

Delaware's Medicaid program recently expanded coverage for tobacco cessation counseling to all enrollees, making its tobacco cessation benefit completely comprehensive. The state also provides tobacco cessation treatments to its state employees and their family members.

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