Jury Awards $2 Billion to Roundup Cancer Victims in 3rd Trial

May 14, 2019 — A jury in California awarded $2 billion to a married couple who both developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after decades of using Monsanto’s Roundup weed-killer.

After hearing 17 days of trial testimony, the jury spent less than 2 days deliberating before awarding $1 billion to Alva Pilliod and another $1 billion to Alberta Pilliod.

Here is a breakdown of the jury award:

Alva Pilliod

Compensatory:

Past economic – $47,296.01

Past non-economic loss – $8 million

Future non-economic loss – $10 million

Punitive damages – $1 billion

Alberta Pilliod

Compensatory:

Past economic – $201,166.76

Past non-economic – $8 million

Future economic  – $2,957,710

Future non-economic – $26 million

Punitive damages – $1 billion

TOTAL – $2.055 billion

Alva was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2011. Alberta was diagnosed with lymphoma 2015. Both of them used Roundup for 35 years to kill weeds on their 4 properties. They stopped using Roundup just a few years ago after learning about the potential link to cancer.

The couple’s lawsuit is the third to end in a verdict against Monsanto. In the first case, a jury awarded a former groundskeeper Dewayne “Lee” Johnson $289 million, later reduced to $78 million. In March, a federal jury awarded $80 million to Edwin Hardeman of Santa Rosa.

Over 13,000 people have filed similar lawsuits, accusing Monsanto of intentionally downplaying the evidence linking Roundup and cancer.

Lawyers for the Pilliod couple presented the jury with a significant amount of evidence to back up their claims. For example, Monsanto never studied the cancer risks of Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides, although the company was aware that surfactants in Roundup formulations were much more toxic than glyphosate alone.

Monsanto also spent millions of dollars on a covert campaign to secretly ghostwrite studies that were aimed at discrediting other studies linking Roundup with health risks.

Monsanto enjoyed a close relationship with the EPA, a government agency that has repeatedly supported Monsanto’s assertion that Roundup is safe. Monsanto enlisted the help of EPA officials to delay a review of glyphosate by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances.

Bayer said it will appeal the verdict. Bayer purchased Monsanto for $63 billion last year and shares have dropped more than 40% since the Johnson verdict. Bayer is also appealing the previous two verdicts.

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