[ad_1]
A dying California cancer gardener is scheduled to testify on Monday before jurors hearing evidence in his trial blaming Monsanto Roundup weed killer for his terminal illness.
The first lawsuit of its kind between 46-year-old Dewayne Johnson and the agrochemical colossus is expected to last until August.
"Monsanto has for over 40 years been the main ingredient in Roundup Johnson's lawyers have told jurors that products containing chemicals known to cause cancer have warning labels
Johnson's lawyer, Brent Wisner, during an opening address in front of jurors. would not have used the weed killer if it was accompanied by a label of Warning about the risk of cancer.
Monsanto replied in court that no such warning was necessary, claiming that no connection with the cancer had been confirmed
studies, as well as allegations that Monsanto conspired behind the scenes to thwart potentially damaging research,
Diagnosed in 2014 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer that affects white blood cells, Johnson used a version gene Rou ndup called "Ranger Pro" several times in his job at a school in Benicia, California, after being promoted gardener in 2012.
In his opening speech, Wisner said that Monsanto had chosen not to warn consumers. "Monsanto went out of its way to intimidate scientists and fight researchers," he told the jury (19659006). first trial in which Roundup would have caused cancer, a claim repeatedly denied by the chemical company.
If Monsanto loses, the case could open the door to hundreds of additional lawsuits against the company recently acquired by the German pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical company. Bayer
"I told him you could drink it"
Johnson had few warnings about Roundup's risks, his lawyer said.
"It was said that you could drink it, was completely non-toxic," said Wisner with his client sitting in the San Francisco courtroom
"You will hear testimony from him that 39, he's steeped in it, repeatedly. "
The lawyer told Johnson, who is between chemo rounds, Johnson is supposed to be alive today.
One of the keys to Johnson's case will be convincing jurors that the Monsanto pesticide – the main ingredient of which is glyphosate – is responsible for the disease. Wisner argued that glyphosate was associated with an ingredient intended to help it spread on the leaves in a "synergy" carcinogen.
The question of whether glyphosate causes cancer has sparked long debate among regulators, health experts and lawyers. "Mr Johnson's cancer is a terrible disease, we all do it and we should all have great sympathy for what he's living," said Monsanto's defense attorney. George Lombardi said at the opening of the court
"The scientific evidence is overwhelming that glyphosate-based products do not cause cancer and have not caused Mr. Johnson's cancer. "
19659005] Roundup has been approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency, according to Lombardi.
In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer – a world class health organization Glyphosate is considered "probably carcinogenic" and, therefore, the State of California has classified it as carcinogen.
Founded in 1901 in St. Louis, Missouri, Monsanto began producing agrochemicals in the 1940s. It was acquired by Bayer for over $ 62 billion in June.
Source link
