Tran To Nga, a 78-year-old former journalist, waves as she delivers a speech during a gathering in support of people exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, in Paris, Saturday Jan. 30, 2021. Activists gathered Saturday in Paris in support of people exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, after a French court examined a case opposing a French-Vietnamese woman to 14 companies that produced and sold the toxic chemical. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
A French court dismissed a lawsuit filed by a French-Vietnamese woman against more than a dozen multinational corporations that manufactured and marketed the toxic herbicide Agent Orange, which was used by US troops in Vietnam.
The landmark case pits Tran To Nga, a 79-year-old Vietnamese woman who says she was a victim of Agent Orange, against 14 corporations, including Dow Chemical and Monsanto, which is now owned by German conglomerate Bayer.
Tran To Nga confirmed to Reuters earlier media reports that the case had been thrown out. She added she would appeal against the ruling.
Tran, who served in Vietnam as a journalist and activist in her twenties, has said she was affected by Agent Orange, including type 2 diabetes and an unusual insulin allergy.
During the Vietnam War, US forces used Agent Orange to defoliate Vietnamese jungles and burn Viet Cong crops.
The court proceedings may have been the first in which a Vietnamese survivor was compensated.
So far, only military veterans from the United States and other warring nations have received compensation.
