Roundup is a hidden force that’s behind everything we eat. It is so widely used that the herbicide became the most heavily-used agricultural chemical in the world.1Americans alone have used about 1.8 millions tons of Roundup since it was first introduced in the 1970s. Normally this would just be an interesting tidbit about the agricultural industry, but it may have real-world consequences on workers who are exposed to high levels of Roundup on a daily basis. Evidence may suggest a link between the popular weed killer and cancer. Those who claim to have suffered from unexpected side effects after being exposed to Roundup are pursuing lawsuits against Monsanto.
UPDATE – August 2019
Bayer-Monsanto has now lost three lawsuits in the state of California over its Roundup weed killer products.The next round of Roundup lawsuits are scheduled to be held in St. Louis, Missouri, the location of Bayer-Monsanto’s headquarters. There are currently 7 upcoming trials between August 2019 and February 2020. The next case will proceed on August 19th of this year and involves plaintiff Sharlean Gordon, who was diagnosed with cancer in her 50s and claims Roundup was the cause.
A recent verdict in May 2019 awarded $2 billion to a married couple who both developed lymphoma after using the product and another verdict awarded a man who also developed cancer $80 million in March 2019. In August 2018, a verdict of $289 million was made but later reduced to $78 million by the trial judge. The plaintiffs claimed that they were exposed to Roundup for years and have developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma due to the active ingredient glyphosate. Monsanto recently lost three jury verdicts and has several cases coming up at the same time as the company attempts to appeal prior verdicts.