The family that took on Monsanto: 'They should have been in the chemo ward' | Business

The words flashed on the screen and changed his life.

Edwin Hardeman had struggled through six rounds of chemotherapy in 2015 when he saw a report that said it could not be more accurate than cancer that was destroying his life. For the first time, the Californian had a possible explanation for his disease.

What he did not know then that he was going to be the first person in the United States that Roundup had caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) – and that in the process, he would help uncover damning secrets about the manufacturer, Monsanto, and its influence in science and government.

"I hope this is a significant turnaround in Monsanto's history," Hardeman, 70, said in a recent morning in his Windsor living room, his first interview since a jury ruled that the company was liable for his cancer and $ 80m in damages . "Maybe they will finally do the right thing."

Monsanto, now owned by the German pharmaceutical corporation Bayer, has given no indication that it plans to change its ways. But Hardeman's triumph, overcoming a judgment that was openly hostile to his case, could impact the growth of cancer survivors and families.

Becoming 'the face' of the fight

Edwin and his wife, Mary, never expected that they would become de facto leaders of the federal court against the world's most widely used weedkiller. They just wanted Monsanto to acknowledge the dangers – and possibly save other families from the horror they endured.

"This is something that was egregious to me. It was my personal battle and I wanted to take it full circle, "said Edwin, whose cancer is now in remission. "It's been a long journey."

Mary Bristled When She Thought About Monsanto's Continued Defense of Its Chemicals: "They should have been in the chemo ward … not knowing what to do to relieve the bread."

"I get angry," she added. "Very angry."

Monsanto first put Roundup on the market in 1974, presenting the herbicide, which uses a chemical called glyphosate, a breakthrough that was effective at killing weeds and safe. The product has been earned in the past, and is now ubiquitous in the environment – with traces in water, food and farmers' urine.

Monsanto's badertions that Roundup is safe, culminating in a key 2015 ruling by the World Health Organization's international agency for cancer research (Iarc), which said glyphosate was "probably carcinogenic to humans".

The Iarc clbadification opened the floodgates to litigation alleging that their cancer caused the immune system.

Hardeman had been frequently sprayed Roundup on the California Coastal Town, and was later on the 56-acre property in the city of Santa Rosa, where he was controlling poison oak. It was a product that is so widely used. It's in the home building stores. There's no warning label. "

On Christmas day in 2014, he discovered a swollen lymph node on his neck and was diagnosed with stage three cancer.

Hardeman did not recognize the glyphosate when reporting on the Iarc ruling on TV. At that time, the chemotherapy side effects had devastated him – violent violent nausea, swelling that made his face unrecognizable and terrifying feelings of electric shocks jolting his body.

But when he realized that glyphosate was the main ingredient in Roundup and that research suggests it could be responsible for his NHL form, broad-based B-cell lymphoma, it clicked: "It just hit me. There's something going on here. "

He filed a lawsuit in February 2016. Vince Chhabria in San Francisco.

The judge selected to be the first – the so-called "bellwether" trial, it would be the official test case that would inform future litigation and possible impact settlements for others.

It was a lot of pressure.

"Learning I was going to be the plaintiff, the one, the face of the … litigation, was a shock," he said.

Sitting in their living room on a quiet suburban street in Sonoma county, California's wine country, the couple of 44 years said they were so averse to attention that they did not even tell close about their lawsuit over their years-long fight, with Mary's siblings in Ireland, her home country, only learning the case through recent headlines.

But before he and Mary, the California litigation was already making waves around the globe. That 's because, despite Monsanto' s best efforts, it 's one of the most important things in the world.

Uncovering Monsanto's strategy: 'I was appalled'

The unsealed emails and documents suggest that Monsanto had an aggressive PR strategy for years of negative attacking research and negative studies.

In one email, a Monsanto executive advised others in the company to be cautious about how they describe the safety of the product, warning, "You can not say that this is not a carcinogen … we have not done the necessary testing on the formulation to make that statement. "

Monsanto also privately spoke about the company writing science papers that would be officially authored by researchers, with one email saying "we would be keeping the cost down by doing the writing and they would just edit and sign their names". The internal documents also have a harsh light on Monsanto's cozy relationship with US regulators and its media campaign to fight the Iarc ruling.

(The company has said it's open about its involvement in research.)

One executive eventually revealed that the company had roughly $ 17m budget for PR and public affairs related to Iarc and glyphosate.

"I do not think I realized the importance of my case unleashing an investigation into Monsanto's archives, which nobody's ever been able to do," Hardeman said.

The records helped Dewayne "Lee" Johnson, the first person to take on Monsanto in a roundup trial in state court, win his historic victory last year, with a jury saying the corporation had "acted with malice" and was responsible for his cancer.

Monsanto's conduct, "Hardeman said, recalling the company never returned to the phone calls of Johnson, to form school groundskeeper who is terminally ill.

While the state court verdict boded well for Hardeman, he soon faced an unexpected roadblock that felt insurmountable possible: Judge Chhabria barred Hardeman's lawyers from all over the world.

The judge said the first phase of the trial should be about $ 500 sanction against Aimee Wagstaff, Hardeman's lawyer, for violating his orders. The judge also blocked her from introducing Mary to the jury and said the attorneys could not even show a picture of Hardeman during closing statements.

"It was really hard to take over," Hardeman said, recounting Chhabria's attacks on his lawyer.

Hardeman still won.

The Wagstaff said in an interview: "We have been forced to make our objections, to argue just the science. Any argument by Bayer or Monsanto that this was a sympathetic jury to Mr Hardeman … is not supported by the facts. "

Mary, who was home sick the day the jury announced, first saw the verdict on Twitter before her husband could break the news: "I let out a scream. It's a wonder one of my neighbors did not come in. "

With the cancer science, Monsanto's "despicable" and "reckless" behavior – and that was a success, too. The jury ruled Monsanto was negligent and owed him $ 80m in damages.

Within minutes of the final verdict, a Bayer spokesperson issued a response: The company would appeal.

'I worry about the younger generation'

In US federal courts, there are around 1,200 plaintiffs with similar roundup cancer cases – and roughly 11,000 nationwide. Despite two jury rulings saying Roundup causes cancer, the corporation's defense has not changed: Roundup is safe for use.

"We continue to strongly believe in the extensive body of safety of the world and continue to base their own badessments," Bayer spokesperson told the Guardian. "Our customers have relied on these products for more than 40 years and we are gratified by their continued support."

Bayer, who has faced the challenge of a roundup of controversy in the wake of the controversy Roundup, could be pushed to negotiate a mbadive following of hardtiffs.

Hardeman said: "Give us a chance to make a decision We need to have some compbadion for people."

Hardeman said that it was Bayer and Monsanto still having their own study of the carcinogenicity of Roundup, even after all these years. (Monsanto has said the company has gone beyond what was required in testing glyphosate exposure risks).

"I worry about the younger generation," Hardeman said. "Why have not you tested this product? Why, why, why? You've got the money. Are you afraid of the answer? "