US jury rules against Monsanto

Monsanto is one of the most reviled corporate predators for good reason.

It puts profits over human health. Its hazardous GMO seeds are responsible for serious diseases and illnesses. They’re also environmentally destructive.

The company has been selling carcinogenic glyphosate to farmers since 1974—under the trade name Roundup, used to kill weeds without killing crops.

It’s the most commonly used herbicide in America—current sales 100-fold greater than when first introduced.

In March 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic in humans”—based on epidemiological, animal, and in vitro studies.

In February 2016, international scientists published a consensus statement—explaining the risks associated with human exposure to glyphosate.

Endocrine disruption in test tube and animal experiments studies occurred.

Glyphosate residues are found in popular Western foods and drinks. Tests show most Americans have it in their urine. Any amount is unsafe.

According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, glyphosate exposure is linked to cancer in humans. Yet no regulatory action in America or Europe has been taken to ban its use.

Monsanto lost a landmark lawsuit, claiming a glyphosate link to cancer. A California jury ordered the company to pay plaintiff DeWayne Johnson $39 million in compensation and $250 million in punitive damages.

Employed as a groundskeeper, he developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after using glyphosate in his work.

Jurors said Monsanto failed to warn users of the hazards of glyphosate exposure, along with accusing the company of “act[ing] with malice or oppression,” “negligent failure,” and selling a product it knew was “dangerous.”

Johnson’s lawyer Brent Wisner said, “We were finally able to show the jury the secret, internal Monsanto documents proving that Monsanto has known for decades that . . . Roundup could cause cancer,” adding that the verdict sent a message to the company that “years of deception regarding Roundup are over, and that (its management) should put consumer safety first over profits.”

The verdict bolsters the case for thousands of similar pending lawsuits a federal judge ruled can proceed.

Clear evidence proved longstanding Monsanto claims about alleged Roundup safety were bald-faced lies.

The herbicide is used in around two-thirds of world countries on over 100 crops—poisoning them, making them hazardous to consume.

Monsanto vice president Scott Partridge turned truth on its head, claiming jurors “got it wrong.” The company will appeal the verdict. The case and thousands of others to follow could drag out in the courts for years.

In December 2017, the Trump regime’s enemy of the earth EPA falsely claimed glyphosate poses no “meaningful risks to human health when the product is used according to the pesticide label”—a bald-faced lie.

In 1991, the EPA reversed its 1985 ruling, calling glyphosate a “possible human carcinogen.”

In September 2016, Monsanto agreed to a Bayer buyout. The German company was connected to IG Farben, liquidated in 1952, notorious for producing Zyklon B, used to murder countless victims in Nazi death camps.

The merger with Monsanto was consummated in June, a statement saying: “Bayer will remain the company name. Monsanto will no longer be a company name. The acquired products will retain their brand names and become part of the Bayer portfolio.”

The Monsanto name was too hated to retain—the company notorious for producing agent orange, PCBs, DDT, bovine growth hormone, GMO seeds, glyphosate, and other toxic products hazardous to human health and the environment.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.