A San Francisco jury on Friday ordered the chemical giant Monsanto to pay $289 million to Dewayne Johnson, a school groundskeeper who claimed he contracted a deadly cancer from exposure to the weed-killer Roundup. In 2016, the World Health Organization concluded that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, poses no cancer risk. But California includes glyphosate on its Proposition 65 list of chemicals “probably carcinogenic to humans.” We’ll discuss the case and assess the risks posed by Roundup and other products that contain glyphosate.
Jury Links Cancer to Roundup, Awards $289 Million to Groundskeeper
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Plaintiff Dewayne Johnson reacts after hearing the verdict to his case against Monsanto at the Superior Court Of California in San Francisco, California, on August 10, 2018. - A California jury on Friday, August 10, 2018 ordered agrochemical giant Monsanto to pay nearly $290 million for failing to warn a dying groundskeeper that its weed killer Roundup might cause cancer. Jurors found Monsanto acted with 'malice' and that its weed killers Roundup and the professional grade version RangerPro contributed 'substantially' to Dewayne Johnson's terminal illness.
Guests:
Helen Christophi, legal affairs reporter, Courthouse News
David Eastmond, professor and toxicologist, University of California Riverside's Department of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology
Scott Partridge, vice president, Monsanto
Jennifer Sass, senior scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council
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