WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th March, 2019) A US jury found that biotech giant Monsanto's weed killer product Roundup is responsible for California resident Ed Hardeman's cancer, the plaintiff's lawyers said in a joint statement.
"Mr. Hardeman is pleased that the jury unanimously held that Monsanto is responsible for causing his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma," lawyers Aimee Wagstaff, Andrus Wagstaff and Jennifer Moore with Moore Law Group said in a statement as quoted by Courthouse news Service on Wednesday. "It is clear from Monsanto's actions that it does not care whether Roundup causes cancer, focusing instead on manipulating public opinion and undermining anyone who raises genuine and legitimate concerns about Roundup."
The jury ordered Monsanto to pay $81 million to Hardeman, who said he developed cancer after being exposed to Roundup herbicide that he used in his yard for more than 26 years, Courthouse News said on Wednesday.
Bayer, the German pharmaceutical giant that owns Monsanto, vowed to appeal the decision. In a separate statement, the company stood by its product.
"This verdict does not change the weight of over four decades of extensive science and the conclusions of regulators worldwide that support the safety of our glyphosate-based herbicides and that they are not carcinogenic," Bayer said in the statement as quoted in the report.
Hardeman was awarded $75 million in punitive damages as punishment for the company's deceitful conduct and the remaining $6 million covered compensatory damages including medical expenses stemming from four years of cancer treatment, the report added.
