After a seven-year legal battle, first against Monsanto, then Bayer, after the German company acquired the American pesticide manufacturer in 2018, Sabine Grataloup was left with "a great disappointment." In a judgment on Thursday, July 31, a court in southeastern France ruled that the agribusiness giant was not responsible for the severe birth defects suffered by her son, Théo, because they could not be linked to in utero exposure to glyphosate.

Sabine Grataloup and her husband, Thomas, filed a lawsuit against Monsanto in 2018. Twelve years earlier, in August 2006, while using Glyper – a glyphosate-based weedkiller and twin product of the well-known Roundup – to clear the grounds of her equestrian center, she was largely unaware of the dangers of the pesticide, which was then marketed as "biodegradable." She also did not yet know she was pregnant. Théo was born on May 2, 2007, with severe malformations of the larynx, esophagus and respiratory system.

You have 86.38% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.