Roundup® / Glyphosate Litigation
Recently, a U.S. jury awarded 80 million dollars to a man who claimed that his use of the weed killer Roundup® caused his cancer. The jury in the San Francisco Federal Court found the defendant liable because, as the maker of Roundup®, it did not warn the plaintiff of the herbicides’ alleged cancer risks. This recent case was considered a bellwether trial to help determine the range of damages and define settlement options for the more than 760 other federal cases currently pending.
Smith & Johnson care about the effects that Roundup has had on you and/or a loved one and currently represents numerous cancer victims throughout Northern Michigan and the U.S. in the pending litigation against Monsanto/Bayer. Users of Roundup that have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma may be entitled to compensation through this litigation.
Smith & Johnson, Attorneys, P.C. is now interviewing prospective claimants who have been exposed to Roundup®/glyphosate and have been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
For more information regarding your potential rights as it relates to the Roundup®/glyphosate litigation, please contact Personal Injury Attorney Timothy P. Smith at Smith & Johnson Attorneys to discuss the facts of your particular case. (231) 946-0700 or tsmith@smith-johnson.com.
Case Criteria
1. Date of Diagnosis
Diagnosis date matters as Plaintiff personal injury claims typically carry a statute of limitations, which is a certain length of time in which an individual may bring a lawsuit against the responsible party. In Michigan, both the product liability and general negligence statute allows for 3 years. Accordingly, timing is crucial in these cases.
2. Date of Exposure
With Monsanto first commercially marketed the brand Roundup® in 1974, we typically identify that year as the earliest possible date for use by potential clients. But, claimants have used Roundup® and/or glyphosate at various points over the years since that initial marketing date.
3. Roundup® Brand Products – Roundup®-branded products are categorized by four uses:
Residential, Industrial, Turf and Ornamental (IT&O), and Agricultural. Generally, Roundup® Products fall into one of two types: pre-mixed or concentrated. Concentrated Roundup® contains a higher percentage of glyphosate than pre-mixed versions of the product. Potential clients who used concentrated Roundup® are likely to have a higher exposure than potential clients who used premixed Roundup®. In most instances, farmers, groundskeepers, municipal workers and landscapers are likely to use concentrated Roundup®. Some residential users purchase concentrated Roundup® and mix the product at home. Here in Michigan, we are finding that residential users who are engaged in quality deer management and food plot construction at their deer camps, are individuals who typically are using concentrated Roundup® with much greater levels of exposure than normal residential use.
4. Qualifying Diseases: Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL) and its certain subtypes (non-exhaustive list)
- B-cell lymphomas
- T-cell lymphomas
- Rare types of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Additional information about NHL and its subtypes can be found at the American Cancer Society.
Roundup® / Glyphosate Background
Monsanto developed Roundup® and began marketing it in 1974. The active chemical is called glyphosate, which is a chemical that obstructs the aromatic production chain path of plants. That aromatic production chain is essential to a plant’s survival. There are other “inactive” ingredients including surfactants and adjuvants. Roundup® has been a very popular product due to its effectiveness in controlling weeds. However, in March 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (“IARC”), an autonomous agency of the World Health Organization (“WHO”), issued a report regarding several herbicides, including glyphosate. That evaluation involved studies of exposure to glyphosate in several countries around the world. In July 2015, IARC issued the formal monograph relating to glyphosate. The IARC Working Group classified glyphosate as a Group 2A herbicide, which means that it is probably carcinogenic to humans. That same working group concluded that the cancers most associated with glyphosate exposure are Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and its various subtypes.
Through Monsanto’s aggressive marketing and development of glyphosate-resistant Roundup Ready® crops, the proliferation of and exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides has increased over the years. Farmers, landscapers, municipalities, and residential users, among others, have all relied on Roundup® to control weed overgrowth over the years. Monsanto’s patent to manufacture glyphosate expired in 2000 and since then, other companies have been able to manufacture and sell their own glyphosate-based products, further driving the increase in use and exposure.
Roundup & Glyphosate Lawsuit FAQ