Judge allows extension for appeal in chicken-litter suit
US - Fourth Circuit Judge Kim Smith filed an order Wednesday extending the time for plaintiffs to appeal the September jury verdict in a case that alleged chicken litter caused cancer.
30 November 2006
2 minute read
The order, moving the deadline to April 20, 2007, was filed in the case of Michael and Mary Green and their son, Blu, who are appealing the verdict of the trial, which they lost. They claimed a substance in chicken litter turned into a harmful form of arsenic when it was spread as fertilizer and caused Blu Green’s leukemia. He survived the cancer.
On Sept. 28, the jury took 21 minutes — after three weeks of testimony — to find in favor of Alpharma Inc. and Alpharma Animal Health Co., the makers of roxarsone, the feed ingredient the Greens claim breaks down into a harmful form of arsenic. Roxarsone is fed to chickens to enhance growth and prevent disease.
The Greens are lead plaintiffs in one of eight lawsuits involving chicken-litter claims. Other plaintiffs in the suit will have separate trials. The Greens filed a notice of appeal on Oct. 13 to the Arkansas Court of Appeals, and an amended notice was filed on Oct. 20.
Source: NWA News
