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Pesticide Action Network

Pesticide Action Network

Third consecutive ruling against Bayer: Jury awards $2bn in cancer trial

Oakland, CA – In a third consecutive historic ruling against Monsanto (now Bayer) and its glyphosate-based Roundup pesticide, a jury in the San Francisco Superior Court in Oakland, California found Bayer liable for plaintiffs Alva and Alberta Pilliod’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The plaintiffs were awarded over $2 billion total. Alva Pilliod was awarded $18 million in compensatory and $1 billion in punitive damages, and Alberta Pilliod was awarded $37 million in compensatory and $1 billion in punitive damages. 

In light of the World Health Organization’s determination in 2015 that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is a ‘probable human carcinogen,’ several thousand individuals who have been exposed to the herbicide and suffered from cancer are in the process of suing Monsanto. This verdict, the third consecutive against Bayer, sets a precedent into the future.

Kristin Schafer, Pesticide Action Network Executive Director, issued the following statement:

“The Pilliod victory is yet another landmark moment that signals a turning tide. For decades Monsanto assured farmers, farmworkers, pesticide applicators, and homeowners that glyphosate was harmless. As Monsanto (now Bayer) is finally held accountable for its impacts, we must also hold our public agencies accountable to science.

“Today’s ruling is the third consecutive time a jury has found that Bayer must pay for the harms of its glyphosate products. Public opinion is clearly shifting, and our courts are beginning to follow the science. It’s time to get carcinogenic pesticides off the market, and support farmers as they transition to agroecological approaches.”

Contacts:
Ahna Kruzic, Pesticide Action Network, ahna@panna.org, 510 927 5379

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Pesticide Action Network works to create a just, thriving food system. PAN works alongside those on the frontlines of pesticide exposure — from farmworkers to rural communities to beekeepers. PAN links local and international consumer, labor, health, environment and agriculture groups into an international citizens’ action network. Together, we challenge the global proliferation of pesticides, defend basic rights to health and environmental quality, and work to ensure the transition to a just and viable food system.

Photo: Mike Mozart | Flickr

Pesticide Action Network

Pesticide Action Network

Pesticide Action Network is dedicated to advancing alternatives to pesticides worldwide. Follow @pesticideaction

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