Monsanto has to pay more than 1.5 billion dollars because of cancer after using weed killer

James Draeger, Valerie Gunther and Dan Anderson were jointly awarded compensation of 61.1 million dollars (55.9 million euros) by the judge for the actual damage suffered. The three had developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma and claimed that the cancer was the result of years of using Roundup while gardening.

In addition, the judge also decided to impose a fine of 500 million dollars (458 million euros) on Monsanto for each of the three victims. This amount – which the victims will receive – should discourage Monsanto (and other companies) from endangering the health of their customers in the future.

It is likely that Draeger, Gunther and Anderson will have their damages reduced upon motion or on appeal under U.S. Supreme Court rulings that limit such fines to ten times the plaintiff’s actual damages. The fine in the Missouri case is approximately 25 times greater than damages awarded for medical expenses, pain and suffering.

Bayer has recently won several lawsuits over Roundup, but at the same time there are also a number of cases in which the jury saw a link between the weed killer and the development of cancer, according to Bloomberg. The German chemical company took over Monsanto in 2018 and as such inherited the many lawsuits surrounding Roundup. The main ingredient of that product is glyphosate.

There is also discussion in Europe about the danger of glyphosate to health, but because research into possible harmful effects is still ongoing, the permit was recently extended for ten years.