If you have developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after exposure to the herbicide Roundup, you may have a legal claim against Monsanto for monetary damages. Recent successful lawsuits against Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup, have shown that juries are willing to hold the company accountable for harming consumers. Both commercial users and those who have used Roundup around their own homes may be eligible for compensation depending on the amount of exposure they have experienced.
A class-action lawsuit was filed in 2016 alleging that Monsanto marketed Roundup in a “false, misleading, and deceptive way.” Numerous individual lawsuits have also been filed, alleging that Monsanto knew the risks of its Roundup products but continued to market and sell them anyway.
Roundup was first marketed as an herbicide to help farmers in the 1970s. Since that time, Roundup has found its way into the mainstream and is a popular product for home lawn and garden maintenance. Despite the popularity of the product, Roundup has been found to have dangerous ingredients.
Roundup Illnesses and Injuries
Roundup use has been linked to the development of non-Hodgkin lymphoma for people who were exposed to the herbicide. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate (an ingredient in Roundup) as a “probable human carcinogen” after years of strenuous research.
Monsanto (now owned by the multi-national conglomerate, Bayer), has claimed that Roundup is safe to use, despite the World Health Organization (WHO) classifying the product as a probable carcinogen. Making matters worse, Roundup is more dangerous than glyphosate on its own.
The U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) states that Roundup is “much more toxic than” glyphosate alone. Roundup is intentionally manufactured to enable glyphosate to enter plant and animal cells at an accelerated rate, making it far more dangerous to humans than glyphosate alone. One version of the weed-killer, Roundup QuikPRO, is over 70% glyphosate.
After decades of study, the evidence has become overwhelmingly clear that Roundup is a dangerous product. Numerous versions of Roundup are over 50% glyphosate, making them incredibly potent and dangerous to users. Monsanto’s manufacturing and marketing practices are underhanded and deceptive. As a result, Monsanto is being held legally accountable for its actions, forced to pay restitution to those who have been harmed.
Many people who have become ill due to Roundup were exposed on the job. Farm workers, nursery employees, professional landscapers, and other workers who used Roundup on the job were likely exposed to glyphosate on a regular basis. These individuals were never warned by the company of the dangers of inhaling the product, and as a result, might be suffering from one of the conditions listed above.
Others individuals who never used the product might have a claim against Monsanto for exposure to Roundup. This includes people who live in areas where Roundup was sprayed on crops or used in large quantities where the product could be inhaled.
Was Roundup Responsible for Your Illness?
Exposure to Roundup has been linked to a wide variety of medical issues. A study concluded that exposure to Roundup of 10 or more days a year can double an individual’s risk of potentially developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The study reports that use of the product for 10 or more hours over two days in a year puts users at equal risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This means that people who used Roundup in a commercial capacity or around their own homes may have been exposed to dangerous levels of the product without any warning.
Options for Pursuing a Claim Over Roundup Injuries
If you have developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after similar levels of exposure, Roundup may have played a significant role in the development of the disease.
These verdicts are not isolated cases. A jury in California awarded $80 million to one victim. Two more victims were awarded $1 billion each by juries for punitive damages and an additional $55 million for pain, suffering, and expenses. These historic settlements speak to the level of deception and malice Monsanto displayed in their marketing and sales techniques.
According to U.S Right to Know, over 13,000 individuals have filed lawsuits alleging that Roundup was a leading cause in the development of their non-Hodgkin lymphoma and that Monsanto tried to hide the risks from consumers. Juries have awarded billions of dollars in compensation and punitive damages.
If you developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma or another disease caused by exposure to Roundup, you could be owed significant compensation from the manufacturer of this dangerous product. Compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, as well as punitive damages have been awarded in record-breaking verdicts. Be sure to discuss your rights and legal options with an experienced Texas Roundup lawyer as soon as possible.
How Can Mazzola Law Firm Help Me?
At Mazzola Law Firm, PLLC, we take your case very personally. We know that you never expected that a product like Roundup would have a devastating impact on your life, and we know that you want answers, justice, and fair financial compensation.
Our firm believes strongly in establishing a deep personal connection with our clients from the very start. You and your loved ones have suffered enough, and we are here to help.
Call us today for a free case review or fill out a contact form online. We have the resources and skill necessary to take the fight to anyone – even large corporations – and win. We won’t let powerful companies take advantage of you. Let us help you hold those responsible for your injuries accountable.
Mazzola Law Firm, PLLC
505 W. Lucas Drive
Beaumont, Texas 77706
844-800-6335, info@mazzolalawfirm.com
Roundup and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Lawsuits
More than 2,000 people have filed lawsuits alleging that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide caused them to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. If you are considering filing a Roundup lawsuit, contact our lawyers today for a free, confidential consultation. You can reach us by phone at (844)800-6335, email at info@mazzolalawfirm.com, or by filling out the contact form at the bottom.
This page discusses the nature of the cases, the status of the litigation and potential settlements, the allegations against Monsanto (including the science and medicine supporting the claims) and answers frequently asked questions such as:
Do I have a Roundup case?
What’s the status of the lawsuits?
Have there been any Roundup settlements?
What claims are plaintiffs bringing against Monsanto?
Has Roundup been proven to cause cancer?
What are Monsanto’s defenses?
Do I Have A Roundup Case?
Every case is different and must be evaluated on an individual basis. If you were exposed to Roundup and later diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, we’re happy to discuss your potential case with you — confidentially, and with no strings attached.
Scientifically, one study showed a statistically-significant increase in the risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with even just 10 days of exposure a year to glyphosate-based herbicides. Another study showed a statistically-significant increase in the risk of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma if a person was ever exposed to it.
What Is The Status Of The Litigation?
As of the summer of 2019, three of these cases have gone to trial, and in each case, the jury returned multi-million dollar verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs.
Most of these lawsuits are filed in one of the three following venues:
Missouri State complex proceeding, in St. Louis County Court
This is not unusual. Due to legal rules relating to jurisdiction and civil procedure, most mass tort lawsuits (involving a large number of plaintiffs spread all across the nation) end up in a single federal proceeding alongside one or two state-court proceedings.
It is also normal for large, nationwide litigation to begin with a small number of trials. This is known as the “bellwether” process, in which a small number of cases are brought to trial in hopes that the trial results will provide insight to the court and parties as to the merits of the cases.
Have There Been Any Monsanto Roundup Settlements?
To date, there are no publicly known individual settlements of Roundup claims, nor has Monsanto offered any sort of “global” settlement to those who developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after using Roundup. This is not unusual at this stage of a nationwide litigation involving thousands of plaintiffs.
While we most certainly feel that these cases have merit (and at least three juries agree), there are no guarantees that any of these cases will succeed or reach a settlement. If there is a settlement, there are a couple ways it could happen. Sometimes, global settlement agreements are reached after enough of the “bellwether” trials have been held. Other times, settlement discussions occur piecemeal, with various groups of plaintiffs at a time. Lastly, in some situations, the individual cases have to keep progressing and will settle as they come up.
What Claims Are Plaintiffs Bringing Against Monsanto?
The types of claims a plaintiff can bring depend upon various circumstances including the state in which the plaintiff resides. In general, claims are brought asserting “strict liability” and “negligence” based on allegations that Monsanto knew or should have known that Roundup was capable of causing or contributing to the development of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but nevertheless manufactured, marketed and sold the product without warning the plaintiff or general public about the risk.
Many of the documents from the litigation have been made public. For a full description of Monsanto’s conduct in minimizing the risks of Roundup, see this expert report from a public health professor who previously worked with Congress and the National Academy of Sciences on agricultural research. To sum it up:
The initial mutagenicity and genotoxicity studies submitted to the EPA by Monsanto in the 1970s were revealed to be invalid or fraudulent.
A study Monsanto submitted to the EPA in 1983 (the “BioDynamics” study) showed feeding mice glyphosate produced a statistically significant increase in tumors, and in 1985 the EPA classified glyphosate as a “possible human carcinogen”.
Ever since, Monsanto has refused to perform many of the studies that would shed light on whether Roundup was capable of causing cancer, including studies requested by the EPA.
In 1986, the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs directed Monsanto to include worker safety language on Roundup product labels. Monsanto refused to do so, and never added appropriate language about the need for Personal Protective Equipment when mixing or applying Roundup.
In 1999, Monsanto asked a professor of genetic studies to review several recent studies, in response to which the professor noted “both Glyphosate and Roundup induced significance increases in DNA strand breaks in mouse liver and kidney,” and that “the overall data provided by the four publications provide evidence to support a model that Glyphosate is capable of producing genotoxicity both in vivo and in vitro by a mechanism based upon the production of oxidative damage.”
Instead of adding a warning, Monsanto tried to muddle the scientific debate by paying researchers to submit scientific papers that were actually “ghostwritten” by Monsanto.
Roundup uses a surfactant to make it go deeper into weeds. In 2002, in response to European regulators, Monsanto comissioned a study to determine the extent to which Roundup was absorbed by skin. The initial study reports showed that the Roundup formulation caused nearly eight times as much glyphosate to be absorbed into the skin. Upon receiving the results, Monsanto stopped the study.
As discussed below, beginning in the 2000s, a number of scientific papers have shown that Roundup is genotoxic and that people who use Roundup are more likely to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Monsanto, however, has still refused to improve its labels or to accept responsibility for the injuries caused by Roundup.
Has Roundup Been Proven To Cause Cancer?
In medicine and science, “proving” that a chemical causes an injury requires a sophisticated analysis, and with it, a number of professional judgment calls. Drug companies usually show new medications work by conducting clinical trials, in which some people get the drug and others get a placebo. But for obvious reasons, this method of testing (intentionally exposing people to a suspected carcinogen to see if they develop cancer) is not possible with Roundup.
Instead, the types of scientists and doctors who study the causes of diseases, such as epidemiologists and pathologists, will usually rely on two main types of evidence:
epidemiological studies that look for a statistical association between use of the chemical and the diseases, and
toxicological studies that examine how the chemical affects cells and tissues, whether extracted from an animal or human (in vitro) or in a live animal (in vivo).
Statistical association:
Studies showing a link between herbicides and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma go back more than thirty years. In 1986, researchers published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found “men exposed to herbicides more than 20 days per year had a sixfold increased risk of NHL (OR, 6.0; 95% CI, 1.9, 19.5) relative to nonfarmers. Frequent users who mixed or applied the herbicides themselves had an OR of 8.0 (95% CI, 2.3, 27.9) for NHL.” In 2001, researchers showed that a variety of herbicides were associated with an increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Among their findings was data showing that men who worked with organophosphorus insecticides — which includes Roundup — were 73% more likely to develop NHL.
Some studies have shown a statistical association between the use of glyphosate, glyphosate formulations and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, while other studies have not shown any such association. In determining the results of these studies, much depends on how the researchers choose to analyze the data. In 2019, for example, researchers pooled together data from three cohort studies and found no connection between a single use of glyphosate and the development of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This is no surprise given that the dangers of being exposeed to a carcinogen typically arise in instances of cumulative exposure. However, the researchers did find such a link between glyphosate and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Also in 2019, other researchers published a meta-analysis combining all of the studies that specifically addressed glyphosate and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and focused on the individuals with the highest levels of exposure. They found the people who spent the most time around glyphosate-based herbicides were 41% more likely to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
That isn’t to say that scientists can just slice the data however they want to make up results. Rather, it’s just noting that interpreting epidemiological data is more than merely plugging numbers into a spreadsheet. Scientists have to account for issues like the biology of cancer, which can take years to appear, and how the danger of carcinogens is often a matter of cumulative exposure. For example, the risk of smoking one cigarette a week is far lower than the risk of smoking a pack of cigarettes every day.
Toxicological Studies:
Multiple studies have shown that Roundup is genotoxic. The first serious study on whether glyphosate causes cancer, the “BioDynamic mouse study”, was submitted to the EPA in 1983. That study showed an increase in renal tubular adenomas in male mice, and the EPA classified glyphosate as a “possible human carcinogen” in 1985. As noted above, in 1999, Monsanto asked a professor of genetic studies to review several studies, and he concluded that the studies supported “a model that Glyphosate is capable of producing genotoxicity both in vivo and in vitro by a mechanism based upon the production of oxidative damage.” In 2007, a published in vitro study showed that the Roundup formulation was more cytotoxic than glyphosate by itself. Other studies have confirmed “glyphosate promotes proliferation in [human skin] cells” and induces “oxidative stress”.
All in all, twelve different published studies of mammals have shown that glyphosate-based herbicides are genotoxic, including five studies showing DNA damage and three studies showing oxidative stress in human cells. For example, a 2017 study using human liver cells found “significant oxidative damage” after glyphosate was added in vitro.
What Are Monsanto’s Defenses?
In an injury lawsuit, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving that the defendant was negligent and that the negligence caused his or her injury. Monsanto denies that it did anything wrong, denies that Roundup is capable of causing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and denies that any of the plaintiffs were exposed to enough Roundup to cause their non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. They have hired expert witnesses to provide testimony at trial in support of their defenses.
Monsanto has also told reporters that it plans to argue that all of the cases should be dismissed because the EPA approved Roundup’s label. That argument is known as “preemption”. In May 2019, the Supreme Court decided a case involving “preemption” in the context of lawsuits involving prescription drugs. All in all, the case was a victory for plaintiffs. Given that decision and prior cases on the issue, including Bates v. Dow Agrosciences, it appears unlikely that the Supreme Court would side with Monsanto’s argument. In any event, Monsanto’s “preemption” arguments are likely to delay case settlements as Monsanto pursues appeals.
What Are The Treatment Options For People With Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma?
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (“NHL”) is a cancer that begins in white blood cells called lymphocytes, most commonly in the B-cells of the lymphatic system, which create antibodies to fight bacteria and viruses. Some lymphomas are “indolent,” and spread more slowly, while others are “aggressive,” like diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). A number of strides have been made recently in the treatment of DLBCL, as reflected by the 2016 update to the WHO criteria, but it remains a deadly disease.
In May 2019, the FDA approved lenalidomide (Revlimid) with rituximab (R2) for treatment of follicular lymphoma or marginal zone lymphoma, and thus there are ways to treat indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma without chemotherapy. Aggressive NHL, however, usually requires combination chemotherapy. Trials involving stem cells are currently underway, although their benefit remains unclear.
Contact Our Lawyers Today For A Confidential, No-Obligation Consultation
If you are considering filing a Roundup lawsuit, contact our lawyers today for a free, confidential consultation. You can reach us by phone at (844)800-6335, email at info@mazzolalawfirm.com, or by filling out this online contact form.