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More lawsuits likely on the docket for Monsanto

On Behalf of | Nov 4, 2019 | Commercial Litigation |

Monsanto Co., and its popular weed-killing product Roundup, are privy to fighting lawsuits after being hit with numerous high-profile suits in recent years. One case that gained national attention, concluded with ordering Monsanto to pay Alva and Alberta Pilloid $2 billion in damages. The couple claimed that Monsanto’s Roundup caused their non-Hodgkins lymphoma cancer diagnosis.

A San Francisco jury awarded another man $80 million who claimed Roundup also caused his cancer, and another case in San Francisco led to a school groundskeeper being awarded $289 million, which a judge later reduced to $78 million. That case is currently under appeal.

And the lawsuits aren’t finished.

Numerous suits, into the dozens, and worth tens of millions of dollars and being processed in Hawaii claiming the same thing, that Roundup caused these claimants to develop non-Hodgkins lymphoma. All these cases against Roundup seems to indicate a poor deal when Bayer, an international pharmaceutical and life sciences company, acquired Monsanto in June 2018.

Many of the lawsuits come from parties who used the weed-killer much more than the average person would use it to care for their yards or nurseries. The seed-industry works around the clock to develop genetically modified seeds that can tolerate Roundup, so farmers can spray their field to kill only the weeds while saving the produce.

It seems that Monsanto will be tied up in lawsuits for years to come while continuously standing behind its product claiming it is not harmful to users and is not a carcinogen. Many of the cases are being handled by federal courts.

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