Roundup Weed Killer Trial Underway, Cancer Claim

The Associated Press reported yesterday that, “Lawyers for a school groundskeeper dying of cancer asked a San Francisco jury on Monday to find that agribusiness giant Monsanto’s widely used weed killer Roundup likely caused his disease.

“Dewayne Johnson’s lawsuit is the first case to go to trial among hundreds of lawsuits saying Roundup caused non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“Johnson sprayed Roundup and a similar product, Ranger Pro, at his job as a pest control manager at a San Francisco Bay Area school district, according to his attorneys.”

The AP article stated that, “He sprayed large quantities from a 50-gallon tank attached to a truck, his attorney, Brent Wisner, told jurors during his opening statement. When the wind was gusty, it would cover his face, Wisner said. When a hose broke once, it soaked his entire body.”

However, yesterday’s article pointed out that, “George Lombardi, an attorney for Monsanto, said non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma takes years to develop, so Johnson’s cancer started well before he began working at the school district.

“Many government regulators have rejected a link between the active ingredient in Roundup — glyphosate — and cancer. Monsanto has vehemently denied such a connection, saying hundreds of studies have established that glyphosate is safe.”

The AP article added that, “The outcome of Johnson’s case will not affect the hundreds of other lawsuits in state and federal courts, but it may serve as an indicator of how the others might go.”

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