Roundup® is the most widely used herbicide in the world and the second-most used weed killer for home and garden, government and industry, and commerce. It was introduced commercially by Monsanto Company in 1974 and is used by landscapers, farmers, groundskeepers, commercial gardeners and even home gardeners. It has been linked to a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma after using Roundup® repeatedly prior to diagnosis, call Johnson & Lapham LLC at 513-536-6000 to determine whether you may be entitled to compensation.

The primary ingredient in Roundup® is glyphosate, a chemical that kills weeds by blocking proteins essential to plant growth. It is easy to use and effective at killing pesky weeds like poison ivy, kudzu, and dandelions. Agriculture use of glyphosate increased sharply since crop seeds were genetically modified to make them resistant to the herbicide. Glyphosate is now used in more than 160 countries with more than 1.4 billion pounds applied each year. About 100 million pounds are used on U.S. farms and lawns annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Monsanto Roundup®

Monsanto introduced Roundup® in 1974. There are now dozens of varieties of Roundup® including Roundup® Ready-to-Use, Roundup® for Lawns, and Roundup® Max Control. There are also several other brands and generics that sell glyphosate products. Roundup® continues to hold the largest share of the market, though generic competition is closing in.

In June 2019, Monsanto made nearly $4.76 billion in sales and $1.9 billion in gross profits from its herbicide products, in particular, Roundup®. In June, Bayer successfully completed the acquisition of Monsanto, making Bayer the sole owner of Monsanto Company.

Roundup® Cancer

In March 2015, the World Health Organization’s specialized cancer agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) listed glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” and pointed to evidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma from human exposure to glyphosate, mostly from agricultural means, in the United States, Canada and Sweden since 2001.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is a type of cancer that starts in white blood cells called lymphocytes, which are part of the body’s immune system. If left untreated, non-Hodgkin lymphoma can spread to other parts of the lymph system. Eventually, the disease can spread to other parts of the body, including the liver, brain or bone marrow.

Limited regulation of research on the effects of glyphosate on humans in the U.S. has also limited the available data. But a study published in 2003 in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine involving more than 3,400 Midwest farm workers found that workers exposed to glyphosate had higher rates of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Studies involving laboratory animals have suggested that glyphosate has the potential to be carcinogenic.

Studies suggest that glyphosate can also have non-cancerous effects including developmental and reproductive problems including abnormal fetal development, low birth weights, and miscarriages. Other health risks associated with glyphosate exposure include liver and kidney damage. Some countries have banned the use of the herbicide due to health concerns.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently reviewing glyphosate to determine its status as a carcinogen and to determine if glyphosate products like Roundup® warranted a “probable human carcinogen” on their labels.

Monsanto Roundup® (glyphosate) Lawsuits

In 2016, dozens of Roundup® lawsuits filed against Monsanto were consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The cases were filed by farmers and landscapers (and their families) against Monsanto claim that their glyphosate exposure contributed to the development of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

In July 2018, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria ruled that there was sufficient evidence for a jury to hear the cases in the Roundup® MDL.

In August 2018, a San Francisco Superior Court jury awarded former area groundskeeper DeWayne Johnson $289 million. Mr. Johnson, 46, claimed he developed terminal non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after spraying Roundup® as often as 30 times a day in a four-year span of groundskeeping work. The award was later reduced to $78 million.

In March 2019, a federal jury in San Francisco found that Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup® was “a substantial factor” in causing plaintiff Edwin Hardeman, a 70-year-old Santa Rosa man, to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Mr. Hardeman’s case is the first to be tried in federal court. In the second phase of the trial, jurors weighed issues of liability and awarded Mr. Hardeman $80 million, which included $200,967 in economic damages, about $5 million in future and past noneconomic damages, and $75 million in punitive damages. Because it’s the first such federal case, its trial is considered a bellwether that could indicate and influence the direction of future trials. Two more bellwether cases will be tried this year in the same court.

On May 13, 2019, a California jury awarded $2.055 billion to a couple who sued Monsanto alleging its Roundup® weed killer caused them to develop an aggressive form of cancer after decades of treating their properties with the glyphosate-based herbicide. Like thousands of other people seeking health-related damages from Monsanto, plaintiffs Alva and Alberta Pilliod suffer from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), a form of cancer affecting the body’s lymph nodes, blood cells, and immune system. During the five-week trial, their lawyer told the jury that had the Pilliods known Roundup® could cause cancer, they would have “never touched” it. The jury awarded the couple $55 million in non-economic and economic damages and hit the agrochemical giant with $1 billion in punitive damages for each of the plaintiffs.