Dewayne Lee Johnson will now be able to access cutting-edge cancer treatments, although Monsanto still insists their product is safe A jury has found…
Dewayne Lee Johnson will now be able to access cutting-edge cancer treatments, although Monsanto still insists their product is safe
A jury has found that the weed killers Roundup and Ranger Pro, manufactured by Monsanto, were considered to be substantial factors contributing to the terminal cancer of a former Benicia School District groundskeeper. As a result of this, Monsanto is expected to pay out $289.2 million in compensation.
The trial into Monsanto’s accountability has gone on for eight weeks and the jury deliberated for two and a half days before issuing their verdict. Of the sum awarded, $250 million is for punitive damages and $33 million is for compensatory damages.
According to ABC 7 News, Dewayne Lee Johnson, who was suing Monsanto, will now be able to access groundbreaking treatments for his terminal cancer.
NBC News reports that this case is the first of several being issued against Monsanto in relation to “alleging the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.” And, as Johnson’s attorney points out, this could end up being similar to the slew of lawsuits that were brought against tobacco companies once a link between smoking and cancer was publicly acknowledged.
“I think it’s exactly like the tobacco trials. Monsanto, for 40 years, has been taking the playbook from the tobacco industry, ghostwriting science, buying science, using all the different PR strategies and the legal strategies to confuse the science to blur the science and I’m so glad that this jury held them accountable,” said Johnson’s attorney, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
While a jury found Monsanto accountable for causing Johnson’s cancer, Monsanto is adamant their products are safe for use by the general public.
Monsanto’s vice president, Scott Partridge, issued the following statement in regard to Friday’s verdict and the claim that Monsanto is likened to tobacco companies.
“No, it’s not a fair analysis at all. We all know tobacco causes cancer, glyphosate does not cause cancer. It’s been perfectly safe and that’s been demonstrated for more than four decades. I don’t know how they got it wrong but they did, they got it wrong.”
Partridge also stated that Monsanto will appeal the verdict since they believe their product is safe, citing that studies conducted by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U. S. National Institutes of Health, and other regulatory authorities around the world, have proven this.
Dewayne Lee Johnson has not yet released a public statement on the verdict.
