Hundreds of lawsuits against Monsanto are moving forward

Hundreds of lawsuits against Monsanto for personal injury and wrongful death are moving forward, after scientific analysis was heard in court, detailing Roundup’s carcinogenicity. Expert opinion on Roundup’s glyphosate toxicity could be allowed at trial against Monsanto, pending the judge’s final decision. The first trial in the Roundup litigation is set for June 18, 2018, in the Superior Court for the County of San Francisco.

The stakes are high for hundreds of farm families that have lost loved ones to a specific kind of cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This cancer is more prevalent in farm workers. Over 365 lawsuits are waiting to be taken up by a U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The lawsuits claim that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide caused their loved one’s cancer and that Monsanto covered up the risks. The court pledged to take up the cases as one, only if there was enough evidence of glyphosate’s carcinogenicity.

The second week of March was an important time. The court dedicated the entire week listening to scientific evaluation of glyphosate, the principal component of Roundup. Epidemiologists, toxicologists, and biomedical statistical analysts testified before the court, brought forth their procedure, and provided evidence of glyphosate’s harm to humans. Judge Vince Chhabria presided over the case and must now decide whether the lawsuits against Monsanto can move forward. The implications of these lawsuits are enormous, for more than 3,500 cases are waiting to be heard in state courts, alleging Monsanto covered up Roundup’s cancer risk. The video footage of the court proceedings was made public and are available at USCourts.gov.