NationofChange/Andrew Emett : Monsanto ordered to pay $80M after causing man’s cancer

NationofChange – Progressive News and Activism
Monsanto ordered to pay $80M after causing man’s cancer

The jury found Monsanto guilty of negligence and failing to adequately warn consumers of Roundup weed killer’s cancer risks.
Andrew Emett / NationofChange / News Report - March 28, 2019

Image credit: Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia, CC BY 2.0

Get news the mainstream media doesn’t want you to see.

A federal jury unanimously ruled Wednesday that Monsanto was liable for causing a California man’s cancer and was ordered to pay more than $80 million in damages. The jury found Monsanto guilty of negligence and failing to adequately warn consumers of Roundup weed killer’s cancer risks.

In 1986, Edwin Hardeman began using Monsanto herbicides to treat poison oak, overgrowth, and weeds on his property until 2012. In February 2015, Hardeman was diagnosed with B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) after repeated exposure to the glyphosate in Roundup.

On March 19, the jury unanimously decided that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide was a substantial factor in causing Hardeman’s cancer. On Wednesday, the jurors ordered the company to pay $75 million in punitive damages, $3.2 million in past losses, and $2 million in future losses.

On Wednesday, Bayer, the company that purchased Monsanto last June, released the following statement:

    “We are disappointed with the jury’s decision, but this verdict does not change the weight of over four decades of extensive science and the conclusions of regulators worldwide that support the safety of our glyphosate-based herbicides and that they are not carcinogenic. The verdict in this trial has no impact on future cases and trials, as each one has its own factual and legal circumstances. Bayer will appeal this verdict.”

    “As demonstrated throughout trial, since Roundup’s inception over 40 years ago, Monsanto refuses to act responsibly,” Hardeman’s lawyers said in a recent statement. “It is clear from Monsanto’s actions that it does not care whether Roundup causes cancer, focusing instead on manipulating public opinion and undermining anyone who raises genuine and legitimate concerns about Roundup.”

During the trial, Hardeman’s attorneys accused Monsanto of bullying scientists, suppressing research, and ghostwriting multiple academic articles in the 1990s and 2000s in an attempt to mislead federal regulators and the public about Roundup’s safety. They also alleged that Monsanto has a “cozy relationship” with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) while paying scientists to conduct favorable studies.

Although the World Health Organization’s international agency for research on cancer (IARC) ruled that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, was “probably carcinogenic to humans” in 2015, the EPA has determined that glyphosate is safe for use.

Andrew Emett
Andrew Emett
https://andrewemett.com/
Andrew Emett is a staff writer for NationofChange. Andrew is a Los Angeles-based reporter exposing political and corporate corruption. His interests include national security, corporate abuse, and holding government officials accountable. Andrew’s work has appeared on Raw Story, Alternet, and many other sites. You can follow him on Twitter @AndrewEmett and on Facebook at Andrew Emett.
Previous article
Food companies intentionally make their products addictive, and it’s making us sick
Next article
Dog Day Amerika

    HealthJustice

    TAGS
    cancer
    health
    justice
    Monsanto
    pesticides

Spring Fundraising Drive

NationofChange is a nonprofit organization that provides an online magazine, daily newsletter, and activist platform – all free to the public.

It's hard, expensive work, and our daily operations are funded entirely by donations from readers like you.

If you value the work that we’re doing, please help us raise $20,000 by April 1st to continue operations.
Make a donation → Become a Sustaining Member →

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR
Culture
More children were killed by guns in 2017 than police officers and active military members COMBINED
Environment
Controversial Keystone XL pipeline gets green light from Trump
Justice
New Jersey officer sentenced to prison for assaulting hospital patient and distributing narcotics
Politics
Trump-linked Christian fundamentalists are pouring dark money into Europe, boosting the far right
Health
It’s the for-profit health care industry telling us we can’t afford Medicare for All
Politics
Paycheck Fairness Act passes in the House
Politics
Beto O’Rourke, the (center) right choice in 2020?
Politics
Does Maryland have the answer for verifying America’s vote count?
video
Environment
Puerto Rico faces a flood of fracked gas in wake of Hurricane Maria
Politics
The 47-minute presidency
video
Environment
‘Tell that to the families in Flint:’ AOC demolishes GOP claim that Green New Deal is ‘elitist’
Culture
Fox’s Katie Pavlich falsely claims that ‘the top 1 percent pay 90 percent of the taxes’ to argue that we cannot raise taxes on...
COMMENTS
SITE AREAS

    Home
    Newsletter
    Latest
    Blog
    BookClub
    RSS Feed

ORGANIZATION

    About
    Donate
    Careers
    FAQs
    Submissions
    Contact

RECOMMENDED SITES

    Robert Reich’s Blog
    This Can’t Be Happening
    Campaign for America’s Future
    TomDispatch
    Democracy Now!
    Truthdig
    Inter Press Service
    YES! Magazine
    In These Times

The NationofChange logo
ABOUT US
At NationofChange, our mission is to help people create a more compassionate, responsible, and value-driven world, powered by communities that focus on positive solutions to social and economic problems.
Contact us: info@nationofchange.org
FOLLOW US

    Contact

© Copyright 2011-2017 - NationofChange