Second Roundup Cancer Lawsuit Granted Expedited Trial

Second Roundup Cancer Lawsuit Granted Expedited Trial

Introduction

On October 15, an elderly couple who suffered from cancer was granted an expedited trial by the Superior Court Judge Ioana Petrou in Oakland for allegations that glyphosate in Bayer AG's Roundup weed killer was the reason for the deadly disease.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of a California couple who stated that they both regularly used Roundup since 1971. In 2011, the man was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), while his wife got the same disease in 2015. The couple sued Monsanto in 2017 alleging that Roundup was the reason for their cancer. Attorneys representing the couple requested a fast-track trial considering their deteriorating health condition and short life expectancy. The case will head to trial on March 18, 2019, in California.

This is the second trial against Monsanto company over glyphosate (an active ingredient in Roundup) side-effects. The first trial concluded with a San Francisco Superior Court jury awarding $289 million to a school groundskeeper suffering from NHL. The award was later reduced to $78 million by the jury. Bayer acquired Monsanto which faces about 9,300 glyphosate lawsuits and continues to deny all allegations put on them and plans to appeal the verdict. Individuals affected by Roundup herbicides have filed lawsuits in California, Missouri, and Delaware state courts. Multidistrict litigation has been formed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, overlooked by Judge Vince Chhabria.