World Health Organization Says Active Ingredient in Roundup Linked to Cancer
Did you or someone close to you develop cancer or another disease after repeated exposure to the popular Roundup herbicide? Studies indicate that glyphosate, the active ingredient used in Roundup, has been linked to non-Hodgkins lymphoma and many other types of cancer, and numerous lawsuits have been filed against Monsato (now owned by Bayer), the maker of Roundup.
Reeves and Mestayer is now accepting clients who have suffered serious illness or loved ones of those who have died due to the toxic effects of Roundup herbicide. Call our office today at 1-855-558-2977 to discuss your legal rights and options and to find out if you qualify for the Roundup lawsuit.
Roundup History
Roundup has been the world’s most popular herbicide for many years. Introduced commercially in 1974 by the Monsanto Company, Roundup has now been used in more than 160 countries throughout the world. The herbicide is widely used among farmers, groundskeepers, landscapers, gardeners, and virtually anyone who works with plants.
Roundup’s popularity really started to take off in the 1990s when Monsanto introduced genetically modified plants that were resistant to Roundup’s active ingredient glyphosate. Genetically modified corn, soybeans, cotton, and other crops were a major breakthrough, because they allowed Roundup users to spread the herbicide around to kill the weeds without causing any damage to the plants. These genetically modified plants became known as “Roundup ready.”
During the years following this breakthrough, Monsanto sought to capitalize on the popularity of their flagship product by producing several other variations of it. This helped make Roundup the dominant glyphosate-based product on the world market. Conveniently enough for Monsanto, the weeds that were sprayed with glyphosate adapted over time, requiring heavier use of their product and resulting in greater profits for the company.
By 2007, more than 185 million pounds of Roundup was being used annually worldwide, and by 2015, annual sales of the herbicide topped $15 billion. Today, Roundup comes in dozens of varieties, including Roundup Weed and Grass Killer, Roundup for Lawns, Roundup Bug Destroyer, and Roundup Poison Ivy Plus Tough Brush Killer, just to name a few.
The Roundup product made Monsanto so profitable, it became an attractive takeover target. In a move they would most likely come to regret, global aspirin and pharmaceutical giant Bayer agreed to buy Monsanto in 2016 for more than $60 billion. The Justice Department approved the takeover last year, and the acquisition was finalized shortly thereafter.
Studies Link Glyphosate to Cancer and Other Conditions
Glyphosate has been a source of controversy for several decades. In 1985, it was classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Group C chemical, a category that indicates that it is potentially carcinogenic to humans. The EPA finding was based on animal studies showing that mice that were exposed to glyphosate were more likely to get cancer.
In 1991, after heavy lobbying by Monsanto, the EPA reversed course and re-classified glyphosate as a Group E chemical, meaning the EPA now believed that there was no evidence the chemical posed a threat of cancer to humans. That ruling cleared the way for Monsanto to build Roundup into a powerhouse global brand that would go on to earn billions of dollars in annual profits. And during that time, Monsanto convinced most of the general public that Roundup was safe.
A 2015 report finally started to change all that. The report, published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a division of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as a Group 2A carcinogen, meaning that it is “probably carcinogenic to humans” and that “a positive association has been observed between exposure to the agent and cancer but that other explanations for the observations (called chance, bias, or confounding) could not be ruled out.” Monsanto has spent huge amounts of money trying to discredit and delegitimize the IARC’s findings.
The IARC report helped validate findings from an earlier study establishing a strong link between glyphosate and cancer. The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health study of more than 3,400 Midwest farm workers found that those who were repeatedly exposed to glyphosate had higher rates of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Glyphosate has also been linked to several other conditions, such as leukemia, liver and kidney damage, abnormal fetal development, lower birth rates, and miscarriages. These studies have prompted many countries to ban Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides.
Roundup Lawsuits
Since the 2015 IARC report that classified glyphosate as a Group 2A carcinogen, thousands of lawsuits have been filed against Monsanto. People who have worked with Roundup extensively are now starting to realize that their medical condition could be the result of the popular herbicide. The lawsuits allege that Monsanto knew, or should have known, about the hazardous effects of using Roundup and not only failed to warn consumers, but actively tried to conceal this information from them.
The first Roundup lawsuit to go to trial resulted in a $289 million verdict in favor of the plaintiff, DeWayne Johnson. Mr. Johnson, a 46-year-old a former northern California school groundskeeper, is said to have contracted non-Hodgkin lymphoma after regularly using Roundup at work for several years. The jury awarded him $39 million in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages. The judge later lowered the award to $78 million.
This past May, and a California jury awarded a couple who had alleged suffering from cancer due to Roundup exposure $55 million in compensatory damages and a whopping $2 billion in punitive damages. Although the punitive damage award is expected to be reduced significantly by the judge (as is customary in many of these cases), it sends a strong message to Bayer that they are going to be held fully accountable for Monsanto’s egregious actions in covering up the harmful effects of Roundup.
To this day, Bayer refuses to admit any wrongdoing, and astonishingly, they continue to maintain that Roundup is a safe product. Although it is banned in most of Europe and South America, Roundup remains widely available in the United States and several other countries.
Contact Reeves & Mestayer, PLLC Today for your Free Roundup Lawsuit Consultation
The overwhelming success of the early Roundup lawsuits has given hope to other victims who have developed serious illnesses because of this condition that they too will get their day in court. Reeves & Mestayer are investigating cases for individuals who have experienced notable exposure to Roundup and have been diagnosed with one of the forms of cancer listed below:
•Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
•Large B-Cell Lymphoma
•Follicular Lymphoma
•Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma
•Anaplastic T-Cell Lymphoma
•Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
•Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma
•Mantel Cell Lymphoma
•Primary Central Nervous System (CNS) Lymphoma
•Multiple Myeloma
If you are a love one is in need of legal assistance, call the experienced Mississippi Roundup attorneys at Reeves and Mestayer, PLLC at 228-374-5151, toll free at 1-855-558-2977, or contact us online. The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to handle your case, we will work on a contingency fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary recovery of funds. In many cases, a lawsuit must be filed before an applicable expiration date, known as a statute of limitations. Please call right away to ensure that you do not waive your right to possible compensation.
