Whistle Blowers Win Case

Two Health Canada scientists, reprimanded by their department for making public their concerns about Monsanto's pressurization tactics, have won a court case against the government.

The federal court judge said that Margaret Haydon and Shiv Chopra should not have been disciplined for speaking publicly about what they saw as unjustified pressure from Monsanto to speed up approval for dairy growth hormone drugs.

The company had been frustrated that departmental scientists were taking too long to approve the product, which had been approved for sale in the United States in 1993. Veterinary drugs bureau scientists like Haydon and Chopra were raising new questions about the long-term impacts of the hormones on human and animal health.
--The Western Producer, September 2000