As lawsuits pile up against Monsanto (and owner Bayer AG) involving cancer links to Roundup, children are being included in the victim lists.
A lawsuit involving twelve-year-old Jake Bellah from Lakeport, California, diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), may resolve soon, making him the first child with cancer to undergo a jury trial. Jake is now in remission after experiencing multi-year exposure to glyphosate from his family’s yard. Another California suit involving a sick child was filed on July 12.
In May, Alberta and Alva Pilliod, suffering from NHL, were awarded $2 billion in damages, which was recently lowered to $86.7 million. In March, NHL sufferer Edwin Hardeman was awarded $80 million—an amount reduced to $25 million. Last year, Monsanto was ordered to pay $289 million to groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson—lowered to $78 million, it is now being appealed.
In the Hardeman case, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria said that Monsanto’s actions were “reprehensible,” its employees “crassly attempting to combat, undermine or explain away challenges to Roundup’s safety.”
Bayer is facing more than 18,000 claims linking Roundup to cancer, triggering concern from investors about legal payments; the company’s shares have dropped 30 percent in value.
Although Roundup’s risks are debated, a 2019 study found significantly higher rates of developing NHL from glyphosate exposure. Toxicologist David Eastmond, of University of California Riverside, authored a glyphosate review for the World Health Organization; he says risk may depend on receiving “pretty high doses” of the chemical. Most of the plaintiffs underwent decades-long exposure to Roundup.
Sources: U.S. Right to Know; Earther | Gizmodo; CBS San Francisco
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