U.S. Government Sides Bayer In Roundup Lawsuit

U.S. Government Sides Bayer In Roundup Lawsuit

Introduction

The U.S. government sided with the German company, Bayer, claiming that the ruling that found the pesticide Roundup causes cancer should be overturned.

According to a friend of the court brief filed on Friday with a San Francisco-based appeals court, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that the jury finding based on California law over the weed-killing product should be reversed as they have reviewed and approved its warning label. The Department of Justice backed EPA in its argument.

Last summer, a U.S. district judge rejected to reverse the jury finding that Roundup was defective, slashing the $25 million amount to be awarded to a man who claimed years of Roundup exposure caused his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Roundup contains glyphosate, which is the most widely used herbicide in the U.S. A study from environmental groups found 21 oat-based cereal and snack products, including Cheerios, contain traces of glyphosate. In May, EPA maintained that glyphosate, when used in accordance with its current label, is safe for public health, and glyphosate is not a carcinogen.

IARC, considered to be the apex in the field of cancer research, classified glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen.” According to IARC, Roundup is made up of other ingredients that are toxic in themselves, and are also known to increase the toxicity of glyphosate. Monsanto has known this for many years but still refuses to study the link between cancer and Roundup.

Monsanto has a brief history of legal troubles and Glyphosate is just another herbicide of the company to attract lawsuits. Plaintiffs across the U.S. have filed numerous lawsuits. A plaintiff from one of the Roundup lawsuits claims that she worked as a grower’s assistant on a crop field in New York from 1994 to 1998 where Roundup was regularly sprayed indoors and outdoors resulting in chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2012. She eventually quit the job and is currently seeking reasonable compensation and punitive damages in court.