One of Johnson’s lawyers, Brent Wisner, stated that he used Roundup® and a similar product, Ranger Pro, in his grounds-keeper role. “He sprayed large quantities from a 50-gallon tank attached to a truck, and during gusty winds, the product would cover his face. Once, when a hose broke, the weed killer soaked his entire body.” Johnson claims he read the label and even contacted the company but was never informed that he could develop cancer from its use.

In a statement, Bayer-Monsanto representatives explained, “While we have great sympathy for the plaintiff, we are confident that our glyphosate-based herbicides were not the cause of their injuries and we will vigorously defend them at trial.”

In August of 2018, the jury ruled that Bayer-Monsanto was indeed negligent and therefore ordered to pay $39 million dollars in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages.

The ruling comes more than two years after the original filing, a seemingly long time for Mr. Johnson yet considered a speedy outcome by court standards thanks to a California law that permits expedited trials for dying plaintiffs.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a member of the plaintiff’s legal team stated, “This jury found Monsanto acted with malice and oppression because they knew what they were doing was wrong and doing it with reckless disregard for human life.”

Monsanto spokesman Scott Partridge said regarding the case, “We are sympathetic to Mr. Johnson and his family,” but will “continue to vigorously defend this product, which has a 40-year history of safe use and continues to be a vital, effective, and safe tool for farmers and others.”

While Monsanto continues to insist that glyphosate is safe in any quantity, a part of the plaintiff’s case indicated that there is a mix of several chemicals in Roundup®, namely surfactant ethoxylated tallow amine, which could have increased the toxicity of glyphosate.

In December 2017, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded that glyphosate was not likely carcinogenic to humans. Still, the IARC claims that testing has been predominantly on pure glyphosate and that there has been an insufficient amount of testing done on the mixture of glyphosate with the other aforementioned potentially harmful ingredients used in Roundup®. In DeWayne Johnson v. Bayer-Monsanto, the plaintiff’s attorneys stated that this lack of specialized testing is proof of negligence on the part the pharmaceutical and agricultural conglomerate.

In October 2018, a judge from the San Francisco Superior Court denied a request for a new trial by Bayer-Monsanto as well as reduced the total damages from $289 million to $78.5 million.

Still, the ball is rolling now for future suits against the glyphosate proponent. In fact, Werner Baumann, CEO for Bayer-Monsanto has recently stated that the company now faces over 8,000 lawsuits regarding their glyphosate products.

In February 2019, a trial in San Francisco federal court, where the Roundup® lawsuits are being consolidated, is scheduled to begin. This time, the plaintiff is Edwin Hardeman who began using Roundup in the 1980s to control poison oak and other weeds on his property. He claims to have sprayed “large volumes” of Roundup for many years on a regular basis. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, in February 2015.

The next move for Bayer-Monsanto is unclear. However, Baumann did tell reporters, “If we can settle nuisances at some point where the defense costs in preparing cases are higher than potential settlement amounts, we will, of course, consider it from an economic standpoint.”

Bayer, a German pharmaceutical company, acquired agricultural giant, Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018, making it the largest agricultural chemical maker in the world. With the enormity of its financial investment and the slew of nervous investors, it appears unlikely that the company will back-peddle on its claims that glyphosate is safe or take Roundup® and similar products off the market.

If you, or a loved one have been exposed to glyphosate and been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, please visit our site to be connected with an attorney.