Monsanto Appeals $78 Million Roundup Cancer Verdict

Monsanto Appeals $78 Million Roundup Cancer Verdict

Introduction

On November 20, agribusiness giant Monsanto filed a notice of Appeal in San Francisco Superior Court challenging the $78 million verdict in favor of a cancer-stricken California man who blamed the company's Roundup weed killer for his condition.

In August, the plaintiff who was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) was awarded $289 million by a California jury. The amount was later slashed to $78 million last month by Judge Suzanne Bolanos. During the trial, doctors testified that the plaintiff, who worked as a pest control manager at a San Francisco Bay Area school district, has less than three years to live. Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in June continues to deny glyphosate's (an active Roundup ingredient) involvement in causing NHL. In a statement, Bayer asserted, “we continue to believe that the liability verdict and reduced damage award are not supported by the evidence at trial or the law". The company proclaimed many government regulators have earlier denied the connection between glyphosate and cancer.

Thousands of lawsuits are pending against Monsanto in California, Missouri, and Delaware state courts claiming glyphosate is carcinogenic to humans. Another California resident's case is the next to undergo trial in February 2019. Multidistrict litigation has been formed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, overlooked by Judge Vince Chhabria.

On October 15, an elderly couple who suffered from cancer was granted an expedited trial by the Superior Court Judge Ioana Petrou in Oakland for allegations that glyphosate in Bayer AG's Roundup weed killer was the reason for the deadly disease.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of a California couple who stated that they both regularly used Roundup since 1971. In 2011, the man was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), while his wife got the same disease in 2015. The couple sued Monsanto in 2017 alleging that Roundup was the reason for their cancer. Attorneys representing the couple requested a fast-track trial considering their deteriorating health condition and short life expectancy. The case will head to trial on March 18, 2019, in California.

Roundup, one of the most commonly and widely used weed killers, contains Glyphosate as one of its main ingredients. Glyphosate is a systemic and broad-spectrum herbicide that was patented by a U.S. company, Monsanto, in 1970. Bayer acquired Monsanto on June 7, 2018.

After the patent for Monsanto expired in the U.S. in 2000 and outside the U.S. in 1991, many other manufacturers started marketing their glyphosate products leading to a substantial increase in sales and global usage. The chemical name of glyphosate is N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine, and it blocks an enzyme in the plant, which helps in preparing amino acids and proteins, thus, killing the plants within a few days.

Initially, the users used Roundup as a non-selective herbicide just like paraquat and diquat. People attempted to use glyphosate-based herbicides to row crops, but crop damage problems restricted its use. In 1996 commercial introduction of a glyphosate-resistant soybean resulted in increased use of Roundup throughout the United States. Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" became the best-selling product of the company following the advertisement and the sales increased by around 20% per year between 1990 and 1996.

In 1996, the introduction of a glyphosate-resistant soybean resulted in the growing use of Roundup throughout the United States. Sales of Roundup increased around 20% per year between 1990 and 1996. The product was used in over 160 countries by 2015. It was mostly used on corn, soy, and cotton crops that are genetically designed to resist the chemical. But as of 2012, crops like almond, peach, cantaloupe, onion, cherry, sweet corn, and citrus have been treated by the glyphosate in approximately 5 million acres of California.

This is the second trial against Monsanto company over glyphosate (an active ingredient in Roundup) side-effects. The first trial concluded with a San Francisco Superior Court jury awarding $289 million to a school groundskeeper suffering from NHL. The award was later reduced to $78 million by the jury. Bayer acquired Monsanto which faces about 9,300 glyphosate lawsuits and continues to deny all allegations put on them and plans to appeal the verdict. Individuals affected by Roundup herbicides have filed lawsuits in California, Missouri, and Delaware state courts. Multidistrict litigation has been formed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, overlooked by Judge Vince Chhabria.