There are currently over 300 lawsuits against Monsanto Co., the maker of RoundUp®, consolidated in the US District Court of Northern California under Judge Vince Chhabria. The lawsuits allege that the main ingredient in Roundup®, which is glyphosate, may cause cancer, including non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, in people who are frequently exposed to the weed-killer. These cases make up an MDL, or an Multi-District Litigation. A Multi-District Litigation may be used by the court system when there are a large group of plaintiffs against a common defendant or defendants. The lawsuits are consolidated for efficiency in an attempt to save resources of the court, the defense and the plaintiff, to avoid duplicity of discovery, and to offer consistent rulings across similar lawsuits involving similar injuries and legal issues. There are also over 3,000 additional cases against Monsanto pending in state courts. The first trial is scheduled for June 18, 2018.
Roundup® is used by agricultural companies and home gardeners farming such crops as soybeans and corn. Roundup® has become the most widely used weed killer in the world. Part of the reason for its popularity is that many weed-killers also kill the crops. Monsanto developed a method to re-engineer some corn and soybean crops so that they are resistant to the herbicide.
If you have reasons to believe that you or a loved one has developed cancer or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as the result of repeated exposure to RoundUp®, you are encouraged to contact our law firm, Brett H. Oppenheimer, PLLC if you would like to further discuss your concerns. Brett Oppenheimer has experience in product liability cases against large corporations and is happy to consult with you to help answer your questions and determine if you have a case to pursue.