Monsanto Lawsuit Against rBGH-Free Dairy Will Stay in Massachusetts

Two articles on Oakhurst / Monsanto Lawsuit

>From Portland Press Herald (Maine)
Tuesday, November 18, 2003

Oakhurst-Monsanto case to stay in Massachusetts, judge rules

By MATT WICKENHEISER, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright <http://www.pressherald.com/copyright.shtml> © 2003 Blethen Maine
Newspapers Inc.

A trial involving Portland's Oakhurst Dairy and Monsanto, a multinational
biotechnology company, will stay in Massachusetts rather than move to Maine,
a U.S. District Court judge has ruled.

In a short written order, the judge said that Monsanto chose to sue Oakhurst
in Massachusetts over what it argues is the dairy's misleading advertising
related to growth hormone, a Monsanto product. Neither the dairy nor the
state of Maine, which joined the lawsuit to support Oakhurst, showed enough
hardship for a change in venue, the judge found.
"There's really no way to appeal, and we probably wouldn't spend time on
that at this point," said Oakhurst attorney John Ciraldo. "I don't think it
really impacts the case at all, it impacts the way in which the case has to
be tried, and probably the expense in doing so."

Ciraldo said the case appears ready to head to trial on Jan. 5 in Boston.

Missouri-based Monsanto Corp. sued Oakhurst in July, saying Oakhurst's claim
that its milk doesn't contain artificial growth hormones is misleading. It
demands that Oakhurst stop advertising that it doesn't use milk from
hormone-treated cows. It also asks that the dairy stop putting labels
reading "Our Farmers' Pledge: No Artificial Growth Hormones" on its milk
jugs.

Monsanto says no scientific evidence exists to prove that milk from cows
treated with the hormones differs from the milk of untreated cows. It also
argues that Oakhurst's "Farmer's Pledge" slogan confuses consumers into
staying away from milk from treated cows.
Oakhurst has said its labels are just stating a basic truth, and the
decision to not use milk from cows treated with hormones came from listening
to customers' concerns. The dairy had argued that the case belongs in
Portland rather than Boston because only 7 percent of Oakhurst's sales occur
in Massachusetts and just 1.5 percent of its marketing dollars are spent
there.

Staff Writer Matt Wickenheiser can be contacted at 791- 6316 or at:
mwickenheiser@pressherald.com

_______

>From Bangor Daily News
By Sharon Kiley Mack, Of the NEWS Staff e-mail Sharon
<mailto:bangordaily@downeast.net>
Last updated: Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Oakhurst loses bid to move lawsuit
BOSTON - Oakhurst Dairy of Portland, which is being sued by chemical giant
Monsanto, has lost its bid to have the federal lawsuit moved from Boston to
Portland.

The suit maintains that Oakhurst's label, which proclaims "Our Farmers
Pledge: No Artificial Hormones," is misleading and implies there is
something unsafe or harmful about milk from cows that have been treated with
artificial hormones.

The dairy's Portland attorney, John Ciraldo of Perkins Thompson, said Judge
Reginald C. Lindsay denied Oakhurst's motion for the change of venue late
Friday based "on the strong presumption that favors the plaintiff [Monsanto]
as to the site of the forum."

The trial now is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 5, 2004, in federal court in
Boston and is expected to last up to two weeks.

Ciraldo maintained Monday that Oakhurst's label "is factually correct."

The dispute centers on consumers' perception of Posilac, or recombinant
bovine growth hormone, that is injected into cows every two weeks to
increase their milk production. Monsanto is the only producer of Posilac.
About one-third of the United States' 9 million dairy cows are given the
hormone.

The Food and Drug Administration says milk produced by rBGH-injected cows is
indistinguishable from milk from cows that are not treated, and poses no
health risks to humans or cows.

Opponents of rBGH say there is no consensus in the international scientific
community over its safety, and point out that it is banned in Canada and
Europe. They also say it is harmful to cows, and that the use of rBGH poses
a threat to family farms.

Monsanto is not asking Oakhurst to change the label, but rather to modify
it to contain wording that informs the consumer that the FDA has found no
difference in the milk from treated and untreated cows. The FDA recommends
the additional wording, but does not require it.

Stanley Bennett II, president of Oakhurst, said he's in the business of
selling milk, "not marketing Monsanto's drugs," and has no intention of
changing the label.

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