RoundUp Weed Killer
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Maine RoundUp Lawyer
Roundup is the most widely used herbicide in the world. A highly effective weed killer due to its active ingredient, glyphosate, Roundup has been linked to causing serious cancers including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. For nearly 40 years, farmers, landscapers, property managers, gardeners and homeowners across the U.S. have used Roundup without knowledge of its dangers because Monsanto has knowingly failed to warn consumers of Roundup’s carcinogenic properties.
Monsanto’s Development of Roundup
Roundup is manufactured by the Monsanto Company. In 1970, Monsanto discovered the herbicidal properties in Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate. In 1974, Monsanto began to manufacture and sell Roundup in the U.S. In 2018, Bayer, the German pharmaceutical giant, acquired Monsanto for $63 billion.
Glyphosate was developed as a broad-spectrum herbicide used to kill weeds and grasses known to compete with commercial crops. Glyphosate is a “non-selective” herbicide, meaning it kills indiscriminately by inhibiting a specific enzyme, 5-enolpyruvylshikimic acid 3- phosphate synthase (“EPSP synthase”), required for plant growth.
By 2001, glyphosate had become the most used active ingredient in American agriculture with 85–90 million pounds used annually. That number grew to 185 million pounds by 2007. Presently, approximately 250 million pounds of glyphosate are sprayed on crops, commercial nurseries, suburban lawns, parks, and golf courses each year.
Monsanto’s Failure to Warn About the Risks of Roundup
For over 30 years, Monsanto has promoted Roundup as being harmless to humans and the environment—going so far as to proclaim the product as being as safe as table salt. However, the truth is that as early as the 1980’s Monsanto was aware of glyphosate’s carcinogenic properties.
On March 4, 1985, a group of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) Toxicology Branch published a memorandum classifying glyphosate as a Category C oncogene. Category C oncogenes are possible human carcinogens.
In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) determined that glyphosate is carcinogenic to humans and could lead to the development of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The IARC published a final health assessment about glyphosate finding that whether inhaled or absorbed through the skin, glyphosate can cause serious – even fatal – illnesses. Monsanto denies the results of the report.
In April 2019, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS)’s Agency for Toxic Substances
and Disease Registry (ATSDR) released the results of another highly anticipated Roundup study. The 257-page Draft Toxicological Profile for glyphosate assessed rodent studies and human epidemiologic research, concluding that glyphosate exposure increased the risk of developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and multiple myeloma.
Despite this growing body of science, Monsanto continues to fail to warn about these risks on Roundup’s bottling or packaging. Instead, Monsanto continues to assure the public that Roundup is harmless and poses no danger to its users.
Roundup Cancer Injuries
Years of scientific research confirms that users of Roundup are exposed to an increased risk of developing serious cancers including:
- Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)
- Lymphocytic lymphoma
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
- B-cell lymphoma
- T-cell lymphoma
- Hairy cell leukemia
- Multiple myeloma
Roundup Litigation
Tens of thousands of Roundup lawsuits have been filed against Monsanto in courts around the U.S. Plaintiffs allege that Monsanto knew about the risks of glyphosate but failed and continue to fail to provide any warnings about these serious side effects including the risk of developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
In October 2016, federal lawsuits involving Roundup were centralized in a multi-district litigation (“MDL”) before U.S. District Court Vince Chhabria in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (MDL No. 2741).
To date, there have been three Roundup cases that have gone to trial, and all have resulted in substantial verdicts for the injured plaintiffs. In August 2018, a San Francisco jury awarded Dewayne Johnson $289 million in damages including $250 million in punitive damages after he contracted non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma following his use of Roundup.
In March 2019, a federal jury in San Francisco, California awarded Edwin Hardeman $80 million after finding that his use of Roundup was a substantial contributing factor in causing his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Mr. Hardeman used Roundup to treat poison oak, overgrowth and weeds on his Bay Area property for years. Judge Chhabria later reduced the award to $25.27 million while rejecting Monsanto’s request for a new trial.
In May 2019, a jury in Oakland, California ordered Monsanto to pay Alva and Alberta Pilliod more than $2 billion after finding that Roundup caused their non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
We anticipate that the number of Roundup victims and filed cases will continue to climb as more people connect their cancer diagnosis to their use of Roundup.
Roundup Lawsuit
If you or someone you love has used Roundup weed killer and developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma or another cancer, you may be entitled to significant compensation for your injuries.
To speak with an experienced Maine Roundup lawyer, contact Fitzgerald Law Group at (844) FITZ-LAW or (844) 348-9529, or complete the Case Evaluation Form on this website for a free, confidential, case assessment.
