Class Action Foolishness on Formaldehyde

“Formaldehyde follies, lawyer jollies,” By American Council on Science and Health
After ACSH’s Dr. Josh Bloom was inspired to coin the phrase “Wheel of Extortion” just last week, in reference to Syngenta’s disappointing class-action settlement in a suit against its herbicide atrazine, we have, unfortunately, come across another example to add to the wheel. A class-action settlement has been reached, following allegations that trailers housing residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina contained heightened levels of formaldehyde responsible for adverse health effects. The settlement will require companies that manufactured the trailers to pay $14.8 million. Yet, with about 60,000 plaintiffs, this sum works out to be a mere $250 or less per person. As ACSH’s Jody Manley points out, “The lawyers are the only ones making money here.”  Read the full story in ACSH Dispatch.