The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

dioxin: a polluter working with the pentagon 47“This is how the veterans in the first class action had their claim forreparations denied,” Gerson Smoger explained. “When these studies werepublished, they were considered the absolute reference. And given theirinability to prove that the cancers they were suffering from were connectedto their exposure to dioxin, the veterans were forced to accept a settlement.”In fact, on May 7, 1984, when the opening of the trial initiated by PaulReutershan in 1978 was imminent, the manufacturers of Agent Orange put$180 million on the table as a final settlement offer. Judge Jack Weinsteinordered that 45.5 percent of the amount be paid by Monsanto, because ofthe high dioxin content of its 2,4,5-T. 25 Placed in a trust fund, the moneywas supposed to indemnify veterans who could prove total disability notconnected to war wounds, with a deadline of ten years. Forty thousandveterans received amounts ranging from $256 to $12,800. “A pittance,”said Smoger. “Until it was discovered that the Monsanto studies had beenmanipulated.”