Roundup (Monsanto) Pays $87 Million Dollars in Damages to Couple Who Got Cancer

The International Agency for Research on Cancer categorizes glyphosate as a probable carcinogen for humans. Since then a slew of lawsuits have piled up against the manufacturer of the popular weed killer. In mid 2020, Bayer AB (roundup) announced a blockbuster $10 billion dollar settlement to resolve cancer lawsuits connected to its weed killer Roundup. Have you used Roundup and have cancer? Act NOW! 

Glyphosate is an herbicide. The sodium salt form of glyphosate is used to regulate plant growth and ripen certain crops.

“Glyphosate was first registered for use in the U.S. in 1974. Glyphosate is one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States. People apply it in agriculture and forestry, on lawns and gardens, and for weeds in industrial areas. Some products containing glyphosate control aquatic plants.”

Source: National Pesticide Information Center

Pure glyphosate claims to be low in toxicity, but the products using glyphosate usually contain other ingredients to help plant absorption of the glyphosate. The other ingredients in the product allegedly can make the product more toxic. 

“Products containing glyphosate may cause eye or skin irritation. People who breathed in spray mist from products containing glyphosate felt irritation in their nose and throat. Swallowing products with glyphosate can cause increased saliva, burns in the mouth and throat, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Fatalities have been reported in cases of intentional ingestion.”

Source: National Pesticide Information Center

A Cover Up?

Monsanto allegedly had known Roundup was carcinogenic for decades, but hid risk for the sake of profit. The active ingredient in Roundup is glyphosate, which has been classified as cancer-causing by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a division of the World Health Organization. There is a strange conflict of information about the carcinogenic nature of glyphosate which is curious. Two scientific studies had shown conflicting results. One side claiming carcinogen the other side claiming complete safety. Something didn’t quite add up. Evidence obtained through trial discovery detail internal emails in which Monsanto personnel express concern over the building evidence of toxicity with its herbicides and the voluntary failure to conduct carcinogenicity testing of its formulations, and company scientists discuss ghostwriting scientific literature. Furthermore, trial evidence uncovered Monsanto’s cultivation of friendly officials within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for backing, and secret payments made to groups like the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) in order to promote the safety of Monsanto’s herbicides. With such claims it may be hard to ascertain what the truth about glyphosate really is. Here is what is proven without any spin:

Long-Term Health Risks

While short-term exposure to glyphosate is said to be safe. Long-term risk may be a serious concern. Scientists are divided on how much risk is involved. Reports show conflicting results. 

• Cancer. Some studies suggest glyphosate may be linked to cancer. Others suggest there’s no link. It’s a controversial topic. The International Agency for Research on Cancer categorizes glyphosate as a probable carcinogen for humans. In 2020, the EPA released a statement that glyphosate does not pose a risk to humans as long as it is used according to directions. They also stated that it is unlikely that it causes cancer in humans.
• Liver and kidney damage. Glyphosate may affect your kidney and liver. Studies of dairy cows eating a diet of soybeans with high levels of glyphosate had higher risks of liver and kidney damage.
• Reproductive and developmental issues. The EPA released a statement in 2020 that there was no evidence that glyphosate interfered with the endocrine system or hormones humans. 
• Risk for pregnant women and children. Some scientists are concerned that pregnant women and children may have higher risks because children and developing fetuses may be more susceptible to carcinogens. But the EPA says there’s no evidence that glyphosate is a developmental or reproductive toxin, so they don’t feel that they are at any higher risk.

Source: WebMD

Roundup (Monsanto) Pays $87 Million Dollars in Damages to Couple Who Got Cancer

The First District Court of Appeals in San Francisco in a 2-1 ruling decided that evidence in a 2019 Alameda County Superior Court trial proved “Monsanto’s intransigent unwillingness to inform the public about the carcinogenic dangers of a product it made abundantly available at hardware stores and garden shops across the country.”

 Last month Bayer announced it would pull Roundup and all other glyphosate-based products from store shelves. The action is set to begin in the U.S. in 2023. They plan on replacing them “with new formulations that rely on alternative active ingredients.” The original product however will not change for farms and professional use, according to the company’s statement.

“We continue to stand strongly behind the safety of Roundup, a position supported by four decades of extensive science and the assessments of leading health regulators worldwide that support its safe use,” Bayer said. A position that only opens the door to further litigation until the company acknowledges what the winning plaintiffs have alleged: Glyphosate is dangerous.  

Cancer-stricken Alberta Pilliod said Tuesday that “while winning a substantial sum of money from the ruling definitely is a benefit, that wasn’t why she and her husband sued.”

“Our main objective for going into this was trying to get Monsanto to warn people that glyphosate was dangerous,” she said.

“The money was really nice, but the victory was in getting that stuff off the shelves so that other people wouldn’t have to go through what we went through, and what we’ve been going through,” she said.

Unfortunately no amount of money can prevent the fact that her brain cancer, which was once in remission, has now returned.  She is undergoing multiple treatments to fight it off again. Said her attorney, Mike Miller.

The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer announced in 2015 that the chemical is probably a carcinogen. In 2017, California mandated that glyphosate products carry a Proposition 65 warning as a possible cancer-causing agent. If you have been affected by Roundup and have cancer we encourage you to contact attorneys immediately.