The massive jury award to plaintiff Dewayne Johnson, a former school groundskeeper, comes after Johnson and his attorneys argued successfully that his repeated on-the-job use of Monsanto pesticides caused him to develop a terminal case of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer.
Monsanto markets its glyphosate products as effective weed-killing pesticide for homeowners and other non-agricultural users.
Does glyphosate cause cancer? The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, concluded in 2015 that glyphosate is "Probably carcinogenic to humans." That conclusion appears to have been sufficient to sway jurors.
Critics of the ruling are sounding the alarm over the science that formed the backbone of the jury's ruling, noting the IARC conclusions are a controversial outlier when it comes to glyphosate research.
It's not just Monsanto that disputes the science.
"Today's decision does not change the fact that more than 800 scientific studies and reviews-and conclusions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and regulatory authorities around the world-support the fact that glyphosate does not cause cancer, and did not cause Mr. Johnson's cancer," said Monsanto vice president Scott Partridge in a statement issued after last week's ruling that also expressed sympathy for Johnson.
If it's Monsanto's fault, then it's a tragedy for which Monsanto should be held responsible.
http://reason.com/archives/2018/08/18/rounding-up-the-science-behind-the-monsa
Monsanto markets its glyphosate products as effective weed-killing pesticide for homeowners and other non-agricultural users.
Does glyphosate cause cancer? The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, concluded in 2015 that glyphosate is "Probably carcinogenic to humans." That conclusion appears to have been sufficient to sway jurors.
Critics of the ruling are sounding the alarm over the science that formed the backbone of the jury's ruling, noting the IARC conclusions are a controversial outlier when it comes to glyphosate research.
It's not just Monsanto that disputes the science.
"Today's decision does not change the fact that more than 800 scientific studies and reviews-and conclusions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and regulatory authorities around the world-support the fact that glyphosate does not cause cancer, and did not cause Mr. Johnson's cancer," said Monsanto vice president Scott Partridge in a statement issued after last week's ruling that also expressed sympathy for Johnson.
If it's Monsanto's fault, then it's a tragedy for which Monsanto should be held responsible.
http://reason.com/archives/2018/08/18/rounding-up-the-science-behind-the-monsa
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