In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate, the active ingredient Roundup, Monsanto’s herbicide/weed killer, as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Since that release, at least three California juries have found Monsanto, now owned by Bayer, liable for causing non-Hodgkin lymphoma in consumers who have used the weed killer in their employment or for personal use.

In the first groundbreaking case, the jurors found Monsanto liable for $289 million by causing a terminal and rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in a former school groundskeeper. The judge ultimately ordered Monsanto to pay a reduced but whopping $78,500,000 (i.e., $39,500,000 for compensatory damages, $39,000,000 for punitive damages). Although the first case is under appeal, another jury trial found Monsanto liable to pay $80 million, and yet another came out with $2.055 billion to the plaintiffs ($55 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages). I understand yet another case was ordered to go to mediation, attempting to forge a settlement, but that over 13,000 suits have been started against Monsanto alleging Roundup causes cancer.

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