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Ecology Center blasts lawsuit by pharmaceutical firm;
Will continue to fight to protect children from harmful chemicals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- August 15, 2006

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN -- The Ecology Center, a nonprofit Michigan-based environmental group, said today that it will continue to fight to protect children from harmful chemicals, despite a lawsuit filed against it by Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals designed to stifle public debate.

Morton Grove claims to be the maker of products containing lindane, a chemical ingredient that was used in pesticides until the EPA recently banned its use in agriculture. Lindane has previously been banned for use on pets and for use in the military in the U.S. All uses of lindane have been banned in 52 countries and the state of California.

The EPA says lindane "is recognized internationally as one of the most toxic, persistent, bioaccumulative pesticides ever registered."

"It makes no sense that lindane can't be used on pets or plants or persons serving in the military, but it can still be used on children," said Mike Garfield, Director of the Ecology Center. "We are going to continue to communicate to the Michigan legislature the well-documented and peer-reviewed scientific findings which demonstrate the hazards of this chemical, regardless of Morton Grove's attempt to silence us."

On July 19, 2006, the Ecology Center was sued by Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals of Morton Grove, Illinois. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Chicago, although it is in response to a Michigan-based campaign. The Ecology Center and health professional organizations were supporting House Bill 5574 introduced in the Michigan legislature this year to phase out the remaining pharmaceutical uses of lindane in the state of Michigan, following a similar ban in California. The Ecology Center and individual health professionals were named in the lawsuit.

Several health professional organizations in Michigan, including the Michigan Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, have supported the phase-out bill. The Michigan Department of Community Health does not recommend lindane use and has provided a bill analysis in support of the bill to ban lindane.

The Ecology Center is being defended by Richard Waris, James Sipchen and Amy Thompson of Pretzel & Stouffer, chartered in Chicago.

 

For more information, contact:

Richard Waris: 312-578-7404

 

 

 

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