Monsanto Wins 6th Straight Roundup Cancer Trial

By MedTruth Editors

A Roundup weedkiller cancer case that began Oct. 21 ended with a jury verdict in favor of the Monsanto Corporation. The Nov. 13 defense verdict marks the sixth consecutive trial win for Monsanto, after juries awarded multi-million-dollar damages to consumer plaintiffs in the first three Roundup trials in 2018 and 2019.

As with all Roundup trials, the plaintiff, Stacey Moore, alleged that she developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) because of frequent exposure to the ingredients in the herbicide, including the active ingredient, glyphosate, which is a chemical compound that the International Agency for Research on Cancer labeled as “probably carcinogenic to humans” in 2015. 

Moore’s trial was the third Roundup cancer trial to be tried in Missouri, and the second in St. Louis in recent months. Monsanto, which was acquired by the German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG in 2018 for $63 billion, was headquartered in St. Louis County, MO. 

Attorneys for Moore referenced several studies and other evidence that suggests an association between glyphosate and cancer. Plaintiff attorneys also revealed Monsanto's internal documents that demonstrate that for decades, the company was aware of the possible risks of glyphosate yet covered up those findings from the public and regulators. The jury, however, cleared Monsanto/Bayer on all counts. 

According to the Genetic Literacy Project, Monsanto recently reached a settlement agreement with another St. Louis-area plaintiff. The plaintiff is a former landscaper who claims he developed NHL because of another glyphosate-based herbicide sold by Monsanto, QuickPRO. The terms of the settlement, announced Nov. 8, are confidential. 

Another Roundup trial started Nov. 7 in a California Superior Court in San Francisco. The plaintiff was diagnosed with NHL in 2007 and claims he used Roundup for over 30 years. An additional 10 Roundup trials are scheduled through June 2023. 

In 2020, Bayer, which inherited Monsanto’s legal liabilities when it took over the company, agreed to settle approximately 95,000 Roundup lawsuits for $10 billion. But Bayer’s attempt to settle future Roundup lawsuits for an additional $2 billion was rejected by the judge overseeing the Roundup multidistrict litigation (MDL). Approximately 35,000 Roundup lawsuits remain unresolved.