permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

With "Mountainous" Evidence on Plaintiffs' Side, Hundreds of Cancer Cases
Against Monsanto Get Green Light
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/10/mountainous-evidence-plaintiffs-side-hundreds-cancer-cases-against-monsanto-get

Published on
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
by
Common Dreams <https://www.commondreams.org>
With "Mountainous" Evidence on Plaintiffs' Side, Hundreds of Cancer Cases
Against Monsanto Get Green Light

"We're going to see for the first time evidence that nobody has seen
before, evidence that has been in Monsanto's files that we've obtained from
lawyers and the people in Monsanto."
by
Jessica Corbett, staff writer
<https://www.commondreams.org/author/jessica-corbett-staff-writer>
11 Comments
<https://commons.commondreams.org/t/with-mountainous-evidence-on-plaintiffs-side-hundreds-of-cancer-cases-against-monsanto-get-green-light/53255>

A federal judge in California ruled Tuesday that hundreds of cases filed by
cancer patients against agrochemical giant Monsanto can proceed to trial.
(Photo: Mike Mozart/Flickr/cc)After opening arguments kicked off in
California state court on Monday for a Bay Area man's landmark lawsuit
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/05/22/landmark-glyphosate-case-moves-trial-man-dying-cancer-have-day-court-monsanto>
alleging that Monsanto's popular weedkiller Roundup caused him to develop
cancer, a federal judge on Tuesday ruled that hundreds of unrelated but
similar cases against the agrochemical company can also proceed to trial.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco concluded
<http://www.wowt.com/content/news/Judge-Experts-can-testify-that-Roundup-linked-to-cancer-487796591.html>
that although he believes the evidence presented by attorneys representing
the cancer patients and their families, "seems too equivocal to support any
firm conclusion that glyphosate," the active ingredient Roundup, causes in
cancer, the matter should be taken up by a jury. As *Reuters* noted
<https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/judge-allows-lawsuits-over-monsanto-s-roundup-to-proceed-to/article_f3ad1017-b061-58f0-bee8-ee48438993f8.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share>,
his decision "followed years of litigation and weeks of hearings."

It also follows the first day of trial for DeWayne "Lee" Johnson's suit in
California's San Francisco Superior Court. Johnson is a 46-year-old father
of three who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma after years of working
as a groundskeeper for school district, a position which regularly exposed
him to a pair of Monsanto products containing glyphosate.

Although the state of California
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/20/win-science-and-democracy-court-rules-california-can-list-glyphosate-probable>
and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)—a branch of the
World Health Organization (WHO)—have classified glyphosate as a probable
human carcinogen
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/03/23/glyphosate-favored-chemical-monsanto-dow-declared-probable-source-cancer-humans>,
U.S.
<https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/03/17/scientific-panel-criticizes-epa-assessment-glyphosate>
and European
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/11/27/historical-mistake-green-groups-decry-eus-glyphosate-license-extension>
regulators continue to defy scientists and anti-pesticide activists'
warnings by allowing farmers to keep spraying the world's most common
herbicide.

While Monsanto maintains that its products are safe—with a company attorney
claiming in court on Monday that "scientific evidence is overwhelming that
glyphosate-based products do not cause cancer"—some 4,000 plaintiffs
<https://usrtk.org/pesticides/mdl-monsanto-glyphosate-cancer-case-key-documents-analysis/>
have alleged that Monsanto's glyphosate products such as Roundup have made
them sick. However, Johnson's case is the first to go trial.

During opening statements on Monday, the *Guardian* reports
<https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jul/09/monsanto-trial-roundup-weedkiller-cancer-dewayne-johnson>,
Johnson's attorney Brent Wisner showed jurors photographs of legions on his
client's body that were a result of his cancer and declared: "The simple
fact is he's going to die. It's just a matter of time." As Johnson
reportedly lowered his head and his wife cried beside him, Wisner added,
"Between now and then, it's just nothing but pain."

The attorney argued that Monsanto—which recently merged
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/06/05/bayer-ditches-monsantos-toxic-name-merger-green-groups-say-theres-no-erasing-its>
with German pharmaceutical giant Bayer—"has specifically gone out of its
way to bully...and to fight independent researchers."Wisner, the newspaper
noted, "presented internal Monsanto emails that he said showed how the
agrochemical company rejected critical research and expert warnings over
the years while pursuing and helping to write favorable analyses of their
products."

In addition to internal documents, Wisner also said the trial will feature
depositions from 10 former or current Monsanto employees, and that there is
"a mountain of data," going back to 2000, which shows that exposure to
glyphosate can cause genetic damage that could lead to the type of cancer
Johnson has.

"We're going to see for the first time evidence that nobody has seen
before, evidence that has been in Monsanto's files that we've obtained from
lawyers and the people in Monsanto," co-counsel Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told
<https://www.sfchronicle.com/nation/article/Does-Roundup-cause-cancer-Patient-s-case-13061244.php>
the *San Francisco Chronicle*. "I don't think it’s a surprise after 20
years Monsanto has known about the cancer-causing properties of this
chemical and has tried to stop the public from knowing it, and tried to
manipulate the regulatory process."

Kennedy added that he believes this case will help the hundreds of other
clients <https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1016787414575206406> he
is representing in cases filed against the company. "So many people have
been exposed to this chemical, this group of chemicals, and many of them
have been injured," he said. "The science is on our side. It is
mountainous."