Special Action—Failure to Warn: Help Stop Mississippi Bill To Protect Chemical Companies from Lawsuits [Inactive]

Action Inactive—HB 1221/SB 2472 was defeated after the bills failed to move out of committee.
Thank you for taking action! [For Mississippi residents]

Help stop legislation in Mississippi (HB 1221/SB 2472) that would shield pesticide manufacturers from being sued by people who have been harmed by their products. Beyond Pesticides is a national grassroots organization that represents community-based organizations and a range of people seeking to improve protections from pesticides and promote alternative pest management strategies that reduce or eliminate a reliance on toxic pesticides.

HB 1221 failed to pass the House Judiciary Committee on February 4. SB 2472 failed to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 13. Update—HB 1221 and SB 2472 were defeated after failing to move out of committee.

If this bill were to pass, it would strike a blow for consumer safety for all toxic products. In a climate with less regulation, the ability to sue creates an incentive for manufacturers to develop safer products that protect our health and the environment—not to mention the compensation it provides to those harmed.

Failure-to-warn claims serve as the basis for the overwhelming majority of pesticide injury litigation of the past decade, according to legal professionals, including Brigit Rollins, JD, staff attorney at National Agriculture Law Center. Failure-to-warn is a legal argument grounded in the common law of state court systems across the nation. “Almost every pesticide injury lawsuit filed in the past ten years has included a claim that the pesticide manufacturer failed to warn the plaintiff of the health risks associated with using their product and that such failure caused the plaintiff's injury,” says Ms. Rollins.

Petrochemical-based pesticide manufacturers, predominately German-owned Bayer-Monsanto, are expanding their all-out push from last year, where bills were introduced in Missouri, Iowa, and Idaho. We mobilized last year with little warning, and we were able to defeat these bills. Currently, bills have been introduced in eleven states. The focus of these bills is to protect chemical corporations, not people.

>> Please ask your state Representative and Senator to OPPOSE HB 1221/SB 2472 by clicking here. [Inactive].

Thank you for your active participation and engagement! The Action is a multi-step process, so please click submit to proceed to step two, where you will be able to personalize comments before final submission. The comment maximum limit is 4,000 characters, so it may be necessary to delete some of our prepared message text if editing.

For more information, see our Myths & Facts and Mississippi resource page, as well as the Failure-to-Warn and Pesticide Immunity Bills resource hub.

Letter to the Mississippi Senate: [Original text from February 14, 2025]

I am writing to ask you to oppose SB 2472, a bill that will shield pesticide manufacturers from being sued by people who have been harmed by their products. The chemical companies have argued unsuccessfully all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court that they should not be required to warn consumers about the dangers of their products. So now they are asking the Mississippi legislature to do what they have not been able to do in the courts—prevent people harmed by toxic products from suing them.

SB 2472 failed to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 13. Update—SB 2472 was defeated after failing to move out of committee.

If this bill were to move forward, it would strike a blow for consumer and farmer safety for all toxic products. In a climate with less regulation, the ability to sue creates an incentive for manufacturers to develop safer products that protect those who use potentially hazardous materials, public safety, and the health of the environment—not to mention the compensation it provides to those harmed.

Petrochemical-based pesticide manufacturers, predominately German-owned Bayer-Monsanto, are expanding their all-out push from last year to at least seven states. The focus of these bills is to protect chemical corporations, not people.

If the bill is re-introduced, please oppose SB 2472 and ensure that those who are harmed by toxic products are compensated.

Thank you!

Letter to the Mississippi House: [Original text from February 14, 2025]

I am writing to ask you to oppose HB 1221, a bill that will shield pesticide manufacturers from being sued by people who have been harmed by their products. The chemical companies have argued unsuccessfully all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court that they should not be required to warn consumers about the dangers of their products. So now they are asking the Mississippi legislature to do what they have not been able to do in the courts—prevent people harmed by toxic products from suing them.

HB 1221 failed to pass the House Judiciary Committee on February 4th. Update—HB 1221 was defeated after failing to move out of committee.

If the bill is re-introduced, please oppose HB 1221 and ensure that those who are harmed by toxic products are compensated.

Thank you!