A jury in San Francisco on 10th August 2018 has found Monsanto guilty for failing to warn consumers that exposure to Roundup weed killer can cause cancer. They have been ordered to pay $289 million in damages to Dewayne Lee Johnson.
The jury has found in favor of Dewayne Lee Johnson on all claims against Monsanto and the products products Roundup Pro and Ranger Pro.
Mr Johnson filed the lawsuit back in Jan of 2016. He alleged exposure to the Roundup herbicide he sprayed while working as a groundskeeper at a local school caused him to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
There are more than 4000 people across the country who have filed suit against Monsanto based on allegations linking Roundup to cancer.
Watch a recording of the live verdict below:
Doctors say Johnson father of three, may have just months to live. He was the first person to take Monsanto to trial over allegations that the chemical sold under the Roundup brand causes cancer.
Johnson’s attorneys said he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma after spraying the glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer for two and a half years.
Johnson has undergone chemotherapy and is considering a bone-marrow transplant. One of his doctors testified that Johnson is unlikely to survive until 2020. An oncologist testifying for Monsanto, who had not examined Johnson but looked at his medical records, said he might survive for decades.
Glyphosate, the world’s leading herbicide, was classified as a probable human carcinogen in 2015 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization.
Monsanto, now a subsidiary of Bayer, held the initial patent and remains its leading distributor.
Source and reference: EducateInspireChange.org; YouTube.com
