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San Francisco – Dewayne Johnson's end-stage cancer health attributed to Monsanto's Roundup Herbicide was at the center of the debate Monday at the trial of the American multinational United States.
" My life has completely changed " after the diagnosis in 2014, said Dewayne in particular " Lee " Johnson, formerly very sporty, who testified Monday, with his voice to the stamp serious, in a court of San Francisco (west).
At 46 years old, this father of two boys suffers from a non-Hodgkidian lymphone, incurable, which he attributes to having sprayed, during his work, in 2012 and 2014 RoundUp and RangerPro , two herbicides marketed by the agrochemical giant Monsanto.
This is the first time that Monsanto, which has just been bought for the German Bayer, finds itself on the dock for potentially carcinogenic effects of these products containing glyphosate, a controversial substance.
While Mr. Johnson " was doing everything in the house ", he can no longer help his wife, Araceli, he said, causing some smiles in the audience, speaking of his children or the division of household chores.
Before the diagnosis, " we had no worries, no stress, life was beautiful ", testified shortly before his wife, now forced to work 14 hours a day and to have two jobs for " help with the bills ", her husband no longer able to work.
When she learned about illness, her world " collapsed ". " I did not want to believe it ," she says at the bar, anxious smile and low voice.
– Silence of Defense –
Today, " it is very difficult, very stressful, it is too (hard) to explain how I feel ", adds she, recounting the moments of distress of her husband, where enduring the chemotherapy, he " crying secretly ".
The hearing began with the testimony of Dr. Ope Ofodile, a dermatologist who was one of Johnson's doctors in 2014 and 2015. In particular, he commented on photos of Mr. Johnson's body lesions or his response to first treatments.
Faced with emotionally charged testimonies, Monsanton's lawyers have for the moment remained silent, refraining from asking questions.
Between 2012 and 2014, Mr. Johnson sprayed on school grounds in a small town in California, western United States, Roundup and RangerPro, a product similar to Roundup.
According to Johnson, it is their active ingredient, glyphosate, that caused his illness, and Monsanto knowingly concealed his dangerousness when he should have informed the public.
" Monsanto has known for 40 years that the basic components of Roundup can cause tumors in laboratory animals ," said one of the complainant's lawyers, Brent Wisner, on the first day of trial, July 9.
It is difficult for the prosecution to convince jurors of the link between Monsanto's glyphosate products and Dewayne Johnson's cancer when it has not been scientifically proven despite long years of debate.
For its part, Monsanto has been committed since the beginning of the trial to refute any link between glyphosate and cancer, scientific studies in support, which are challenged by detractors of glyphosate.
" The cancer of Mr. Johnson is a terrible disease and we must all have the greatest empathy for the ordeal he is going through ", had taken care to point out one of the lawyers of the Monsanto group at the opening of the trial, George Lombardi.
– Studies unreliable? –
" Scientific evidence shows that glyphosate products do not cause cancer and did not cause Mr. Johnson's cancer ," he argued.
Johnson's defense said he hoped " as much as possible " in damages from Monsanto, which is the subject of thousands of lawsuits in the United States.
Unlike the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), California, where San Francisco is located, has put glyphosate on the list of carcinogens.
Glyphosate is also clbadified " probable carcinogen " since 2015 by the World Health Organization (WHO), but not by European agencies, Efsa (food safety) and the Echa (chemicals).
Praised by farmers for its efficiency and low cost, it is particularly controversial in Europe and especially in France.
The Monsanto trial is expected to last at least until August.
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