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A Nova Scotia appeals court reportedly narrowed the scope of a class action lawsuit alleging Organigram cannabis had been treated with pesticides that made users ill.
The complaint was filed against the cannabis company in 2017 after two recalls were issued over the cannabis products in 2016. According to the lead plaintiff, Dawn Rae Downton, unauthorized use of pesticides made her and other consumers sick.
According to the complaint, testing in 2016 revealed that unauthorized pesticides were used on the company’s plants. The plaintiff claimed that she consumed products made from the plants that had been treated with the pesticides and only became well after discontinuing use.
“Organigram owed a duty of care to the Plaintiff and the Class to use reasonable care in designing, developing and testing the Affected Product,” alleged the complaint. “Organigram breached the applicable standard of care by negligently designing, developing and testing the Affected Product.”
The tainted Organigram cannabis class action lawsuit alleged two types of claims, “consumer claims” and “adverse health consequences claims.”
The class action lawsuit was certified by the province’s Supreme Court in 2019 and was set to go to trial.
Organigram subsequently appealed the court’s findings regarding several allegations in the class action lawsuit, including personal injury claims and unjust enrichment.
The Nova Scotia Court of Appeals agreed with the cannabis company in part, according to a recent report by CBC News, quashing significant portions of the lower court’s ruling. The appeals court trimmed the plaintiff’s personal injury claims.
“There is no evidence that there is a workable methodology to determine that the proposed adverse health effects claims have a common cause,” wrote Justice Peter Bryson on behalf of the appeals court.
The lawyer representing the plaintiff in the tainted Organigram cannabis class action lawsuit expressed disappointment to reporters at The Chronicle Herald about the court’s ruling regarding the personal injury claims.
“The problem arose in addressing short-term harm,” the plaintiff’s lawyer told reporters. “We alleged various ailments were caused by the unlawful use of myclobutanil and bifenazate.
“Unfortunately, there are no studies to relate the type of biological impacts (that) result from the combustion of these products because it would be unethical to use, by combustion, pesticides and herbicides on humans in comparison to a control group. Fortunately, the frequent ill effects of consuming the product appear short-term,” he explained.
The Nova Scotia Court of Appeals also dropped the plaintiff’s claims for unjust enrichment.
“Proposed common issues for those claims should not be certified. The claim for unjust enrichment is improperly pleaded and should be struck,” noted the order.
The lead plaintiff in the tainted Organigram cannabis class action lawsuit is a medical marijuana user, according to the complaint. She claims that she grew ill after using the company’s products which were advertised as organic.
In addition, Organigram reportedly issued two recalls the previous year and lost its organic certification over findings of pesticides in its products. The alleged pesticides included myclobutanil and bifenazate.
According to a CBC News report at the time of the filing, myclobutanil can cause nausea and vomiting, as well as headaches and vertigo when burned and inhaled.
The Organigram cannabis class action lawsuit accused the company of “design, development, testing, manufacturing, distribution, sale and marketing of [Organigram’s] purported organic medical cannabis.”
The Scope of the Class Action Lawsuit Expanded
The proposed tainted Organigram cannabis class action lawsuit was expanded to include additional Class Members who reported “negative health effects,” according to the complaint.
“Even before people knew that these Organigram products contained these two unauthorized pesticides, before they were notified by Organigram, and before the recall occurred, they were experiencing these things and had gone to their doctors and said, ‘You know, I don’t think this is supposed to be happening,'” a lawyer representing the proposed Class Members told CBC News reporters.
For its part, the company has stated that it cannot comment on ongoing litigation when asked by several news outlets.
“At this time, Organigram cannot comment on ongoing litigation, but as of this date the company can confirm that it has not been provided any medical evidence documenting any adverse health reaction,” Organigram stated with regard to the proposed class action lawsuit, according to CBC News.
In light of the ruling by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeals, the tainted Organigram cannabis class action lawsuit will continue to proceed to trial on breach of contract, breach of the Competition Act, breach of the Sale of Goods Act.
Did you purchase or consume any Organigram cannabis products? Are you concerned about the pesticides found in the products? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.
The plaintiff and Class Members are represented by Wagners Law Firm.
The Tainted Organigram Cannabis Class Action Lawsuit is Dawn Rae Downton v. Organigram Holdings Inc., et al., Case No. CA 485656, in the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, Canada.
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