Chemical companies with a shady past
The Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (vavo) has filed a lawsuit against 37 us-based chemical companies, which supplied Agent Orange (ao) during the Vietnam war. Health problems arising out of the continuous spray of the toxic chemical in Vietnam between 1961 and 1971 form the basis of the class action complaint. The lawsuit has been submitted to the us Federal Court in Brooklyn, New York, and demands unspecified compensation on behalf of nearly 4 million victims.
"The companies named include Dow Chemical Company, Monsanto Chemical Company, Pharmacia Corporation and Hercules Incorporated,' revealed Nguyen Trong Nhan, vice-chairperson of the Hanoi-based vavo. "Three Vietnamese individuals