A court on Thursday, March 28, 2019 ordered Monsanto to pay a U.S. man $80.3 million in damages after a jury determined that the agro-chemical company’s weed killer product “Roundup” contributed to his cancer.
The Federal Jury in San Francisco ruled that Monsanto, a unit of German agriculture and pharmaceuticals company Bayer, was liable as it failed to adequately warn of the cancer risks connected to Roundup.
Recently, the jury determined that the weed killer was a substantial factor in California resident Edwin Hardeman’s cancer.
Monsanto has been a unit of Bayer since a takeover in 2018.
“We are disappointed with the jury’s decision.
“This verdict does not change the weight of over four decades of extensive science and the conclusions of regulators worldwide that support the safety of our glyphosate-based herbicides.
“They are not carcinogenic,’’ Bayer said in a statement.
The company also claimed that the verdict has “no impact on future cases and trials” and said it would launch an appeal.
The case is considered a “bellwether” for thousands of Roundup cases nationwide.
Over 760 cases are consolidated in the San Francisco court hearing Hardeman’s case.
The trial came months after another California court found that Roundup had caused another man’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that affects the immune system, and that Monsanto had failed to warn consumers about the cancer risks.
Roundup contains glyphosate, one of the world’s most commonly used active ingredients in weed killers.
The herbicide is widely used in farming however also to control plants in domestic and urban settings.
