Convinced that Denis Bibeyran’s cancer was linked to exposure to pesticides, his family is fighting for recognition by the State.
It’s a setback for Denis Bibeyran’s family. The Bordeaux Court of Appeal did not recognize as an occupational disease the cancer which killed this wine worker in 2009. For Marie-Lys Bibeyran, his sister, this court decision is “incomprehensible”. But the young woman does not give up. “The fight continues”, she assured at the microphone of France Blue.
Because for those close to Denis Bibeyran, there is no doubt: his work in the vineyards killed him. For nearly 20 years, the wine worker drove the tractor which spread pesticides and herbicides on the vines “without effective protection because the cabin he was using was non-filtering”, raised the lawyer of the Me family. François Lafforgue during the audience. Almost daily exposure that caused nosebleeds and severe tonsillitis, added the deceased’s sister.
A cause and effect link that is difficult to prove
Diagnosed in 2008 with cancer of the biliary tract, Denis Bibeyran succumbed very quickly at the age of 47. Following his death, his sister initiated proceedings to have her brother’s illness recognized as an occupational disease by the State.
During the construction of her case, she encountered many obstacles. “The reaction of my brother’s former employers marked me. They did everything to discourage me from my approach. They threatened me with the aim that I would lose my job and I couldn’t find any ”, Marie-Lys Bibeyran told France Info.
An approach that did not convince the Bordeaux Court of Appeal either. The judges followed the argument of the Mutualité Sociale Agricole which indicated that the cause and effect link between the spraying of pesticides and Denis Bibeyran’s disease cannot be demonstrated.
Previous cases
The Agricultural Health Mutuality has, however, already recognized that cancer could be linked to the use of these phytosanitary products. In October 2015, she acknowledged in a letter addressed to Patrice Lefèvre’s widow that the lymphoma that took him away was due to pesticides.
The same year, the publication of a decree in Official newspaper allowed the recognition of non-Hodgkin’s malignant lymphoma as an occupational disease for farmers who had been exposed to pesticides in the course of their profession.
The fact remains that compensation for damage by the State is still complicated. In 2016, the Metz Court of Appeal rejected the claim for compensation from Dominique Marchal, the first farmer to have his disease recognized as an occupational pathology. The court considered that the evidence of “the attribution of the disease of Mr. Marchal to the harmful effects of the benzene present in the plant protection products used” was not sufficient.
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