Birth Defects’ Link To Pesticides Well-Known Before Boy’s Birth, Witness Says At Trial
The trial concerns 9-year-old Erik Joe Morales, who has been diagnosed with hemifacial microsomia, a condition in which the lower half of one side of the face does not grow normally.
Ventura County Star:
Warning Of Birth Defect Data Was Ample, Witness Says
An expert witness testified in a trial Thursday that there was ample information linking pesticides with birth defects years before the birth of an Oxnard boy who sued over his condition. A lawsuit filed on behalf of 9-year-old Erik Joe Morales claims that he developed a serious facial birth defect because his pregnant mother absorbed pesticides into her body while she was harvesting strawberries at an Oxnard farm in 2007. The boy has been diagnosed with hemifacial microsomia, a condition in which the lower half of one side of the face does not grow normally. Erik has sued four agricultural firms over his condition in a case that entered its third day of trial Thursday in Ventura County Superior Court. Named as defendants are Well-Pict Berries, Soilfume Inc., T.T. Miyasaka Inc. and Ramco Enterprises, the labor contractor that employed Erik's mother. (Wilson, 4/27)