In a few weeks, Monsanto will go on trial again. And when it
does, the pesticide-maker won’t be able to suppress evidence that the company
ghostwrote scientific studies and otherwise tried to influence scientists and
regulators in an attempt to hide the potential health risks of its flagship
product, Roundup weedkiller.
This week, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, the federal
judge in San Francisco overseeing 620 cases involving Monsanto’s Roundup
weedkiller and cancer victims, ruled that the evidence could be introduced in
the upcoming trial. According to a Reuters report, Chhabria said the documents
were “super relevant.”
Chhabria’s ruling almost guarantees that the documents in
question will play a role when, on February 25, a jury in San Francisco Federal
Court, begins hearing the case of Edwin Hardeman vs. Monsanto. Hardeman alleges
that Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer.
Hardeman’s case follows the August 10, 2018, $289-million
judgment (later reduced to $78 million) awarded to DeWayne “Lee” Johnson, a
former school groundskeeper who also sued Monsanto for causing his non-Hodgkin
lymphoma. Monsanto’s appeal of the $78-million judgment is still pending.
There are more than 9,000 claims pending against Monsanto in
state courts, about 620 awaiting trial in federal court. Reuters reported in
November that Hardeman’s case was selected as “a so-called bellwether, or test
trial, frequently used in U.S. product liability mass litigation to help both
sides gauge the range of damages and define settlement options.”
Bayer CEO Werner Baumann called the lawsuits "nuisances."
But the company’s stock took a big hit after the jury sided with Johnson, so
shareholders probably aren’t thrilled with Chhabria’s ruling this week.
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