Monsanto has already received two guilty verdicts in recent lawsuits involving their weedkiller products, that have been accused of contributing to health issues for thousands of people thanks to a controversial ingredient known as glyphosate.
After a recent decision by a jury to find Monsanto guilty in the 2nd case, and that their Roundup likely played a substantial role in causing cancer, that trial has moved on toward its second phase.
And a 3rd case, involving a couple with cancer, the Pilliod family, has also started in California. The couple claims that they heavily used Roundup and believe that chronic exposure is to blame for their cancer.
This week began with experts for Monsanto offering their testimony in court, defending their products and insisting that there is no way that the Roundup could've caused the cancer that the victims are suffering with.
Both lawyers and experts giving testimony for Monsanto in their defense, have repeatedly insisted that there isn't any way to know what the cause of the cancer was.
In the case of the Pilliods, an hermatologist offering testimony for Monsanto this week asserted that we will likely never be able to know what caused their cancer, and that most of those lymphoma cases will arise spontaneously and for no apparent reason.
The doctor insisted that there are only 2 known causes for the disease which are a suppressed immune system and having HIV.
Monsanto's hermatologist argued that there is no data to support the notion that there are any such worries associated with glyphosate, and suggested that they're only looking to report on valid data relating to the topic, and that so far there isn't any out there confirming this fear.
However, critics would argue that Monsanto scientists like to resort to science that they've paid for as a support for the products and a defense against the claims being made that it might be harmful.
Over $100 million has already been awarded to plaintiffs from the first two cases against Monsanto and there are still thousands more who are waiting to have their day in court as well.
Bayer has intended on appealing those verdicts and they continue to insist that we can rely on the wisdom of regulators worldwide who have already deemed glyphosate to be a safe product, that they are telling the truth and have made the right decision. It's been estimated that all of these Roundup cases could end up costing Bayer billions in the end.
