Agricultural worker spraying pesticide on fruit trees
An Oakland, California jury has awarded $2 billion in punitive damages to Alva and Alberta Pilliod after concluding that continued exposure to Roundup weed killer was responsible for the couple’s cancer.
The jury also ruled that the couple should receive an additional $55 million for pain and suffering, and to cover their medical expenses. As residential landscapers, the Pilliods used Roundup for more than 30 years – a fact the jury believed was a “substantial factor” in Alva contracting non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2011 and his wife, Alberta, receiving the same diagnosis in 2015. Both are now in remission.
Jury Decision Marks Third Major Loss for Bayer
The verdict marks the third major courtroom loss for Bayer, the parent company of Monsanto, which manufactures Roundup. The company lost the first Roundup trial last summer and was ordered to pay $78.6 million in damages to a former groundskeeper suffering from non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Bayer then lost a second major case in March 2019 when a San Francisco jury ruled that Roundup was likely responsible for causing 70-year-old Edwin Hardeman’s cancer. The verdict cost the company another $80 million.
To date, more than 11,000 people – including many clients represented by Pintas & Mullins – have sued Bayer in state and federal courts, claiming that they are suffering from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other cancers resulting from using Roundup.
Roundup’s Active Ingredient Is Cancer-Causing
The active ingredient in Roundup is glyphosate, a substance designated as cancer-causing by both the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer and California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
Glyphosate has been sprayed more than any other agricultural chemical in history.
While Roundup was the first glyphosate-based weed killer, it is no longer patent-protected. As a result, many other versions of the weed killer are now available on the market. Monsanto, the longtime maker of Roundup, was acquired last year by Bayer for $63 billion.
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What to Do If You Are a Victim of Roundup
If you or a loved one have developed cancer after using Roundup or another glyphosate weed killer, you have a legal right to hold Bayer and other manufacturers responsible. Find out what your legal rights are by contacting our experienced product liability lawyers today. All consultations are free and, if we represent you or your loved one, you pay nothing unless we win. Call 800-794-0444 today.
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