The Supreme Court of British Columbia has approved a class-action lawsuit against the agricultural company Syngenta over claims that its herbicide products cause Parkinson's disease.

A ruling issued online this week stated that the case was filed in British Columbia in August 2022, alleging that the family of herbicide products produced by the Switzerland-based company, marketed under the name Gramoxone, causes Parkinson's disease.

The ruling further stated that the proposed class members include anyone diagnosed with the condition after handling Gramoxone products at any time after July 1, 1963.

The original plaintiff, Wayne Guenther, passed away last August, and the ruling indicates that he claimed to have developed Parkinson's disease after decades of handling the products while working at the Canadian agricultural company in Saanich, British Columbia.

The decision added that the plaintiffs provided evidence that includes deposition transcripts from similar cases in the United States related to the active ingredient of the products, paraquat, including internal documents from the company "dating back decades."

Judge Sandra Wilkinson's ruling stated that proceeding with the trial as a class action would be "less burdensome" on the court in many individual cases and favorable because the company concealed the risks, and if proven, the case "would create incentives for all industry participants to avoid similar behavior."