NEW YORK (AP) — A jury in Georgia has ordered Monsanto father or mother Bayer to pay almost $2.1 billion in damages to a person who says the corporate’s Roundup weed killer prompted his most cancers, based on attorneys representing the plaintiff.
The decision marks the newest in a long-running collection of courtroom battles Monsanto has confronted over its Roundup herbicide. The agrochemical large says it’s going to enchantment the decision, reached in a Georgia courtroom late Friday, in efforts to overturn the choice.
The penalties awarded embrace $65 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages, legislation corporations Arnold & Itkin LLP and Kline & Specter PC mentioned in an announcement. That marks one of many largest verdicts in a Roundup-related case so far.
Plaintiff John Barnes filed his lawsuit in opposition to Monsanto in 2021, searching for damages associated to his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Arnold & Itkin legal professional Kyle Findley, the lead trial lawyer on the case, mentioned the decision will assist put his consumer in a greater place to get the therapy he wants going ahead.
“It’s been an extended street for him … and he was completely happy that the reality associated to the product (has) been uncovered,” Findley instructed The Related Press on Sunday. He referred to as the decision an “essential milestone” after “one other instance of Monsanto’s refusal to just accept accountability for poisoning individuals with this poisonous product.”
Germany-based Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, has continued to dispute claims that Roundup causes most cancers. However the firm has been hit with greater than 177,000 lawsuits involving the weedkiller and put aside $16 billion to settle instances.
In an announcement, Monsanto mentioned Friday’s verdict “conflicts with the overwhelming weight of scientific proof and the consensus of regulatory our bodies and their scientific assessments worldwide.” The corporate added that it continues “to face absolutely behind the security” of Roundup merchandise.
For quite a lot of crops — together with corn, soybeans and cotton — Roundup is designed to work with genetically modified seeds that resist the weedkiller’s lethal impact. It permits farmers to provide extra whereas conserving the soil by tilling it much less.
Some research affiliate Roundup’s key ingredient, glyphosate, with most cancers, though the U.S. Environmental Safety Company has mentioned it’s not prone to be carcinogenic to people when used as directed. Nonetheless, quite a few lawsuits over the weedkiller allege glyphosate does trigger non-Hodgkin lymphoma, arguing that Monsanto has didn’t warn the general public about severe dangers for years.
Findley mentioned that proof referring to Barnes’ case present “a few years of cover-ups” and “backroom dealings.” He accused Monsanto of ignoring a number of scientific research associated to the toxicity of Roundup and mentioned the corporate “tried to seek out methods to influence and distract and deny the connection between this product and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.”