Monsanto must pay $2 billion to a California couple who claim carcinogenic chemicals in the company's weedkiller, Roundup, gave them cancer, a jury ruled Monday.
The company faces a slew of over 13,4000 lawsuits over the product, which uses glysophate, a pest-killing chemical that may raise cancer risks - a risk that three courts in a row have now ruled the company failed to warn consumers of.
Both Alva and Alberta Pilliod have battled non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after they used the weedkiller on their property for some 30 years.
Despite this third consecutive loss, Bayer - which now owns Monsanto - continues to deny fault, claiming that many studies over the years have found the chemical safe and non-carcinogenic, as did a recent EPA ruling.
'We have great sympathy for Mr. and Mrs. Pilliod, but the evidence in this case was clear that both have long histories of illnesses known to be substantial risk factors for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), most NHL has no known cause, and there is not reliable scientific evidence to conclude that glyphosate-based herbicides were the 'but for' cause of their illnesses as the jury was required to find in this case,' Bayer said in a statement.
Alva and Alberta (left and right) Pilliod used Roundup to treat their properties in California for 30 years. It wasn't until they both developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that the pair began to suspect the chemical might not be safe
In 2016, Alva Pilliod was sure his wife, Alberta, was dying of the same cancer he had suffered - and now the pair is convinced they both got it from Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller, according to reporting on their testimony from Courthouse News Service.
Both Alva and Alberta testified against the company this year in one of the many ongoing lawsuits claiming that Roundup may cause cancer.
Alva tearfully recounted watching Alberta deteriorate and suffer from non-Hodgkins lymphoma years after he'd beaten the same disease.
Alberta and Alva are in remission now - but neither they nor their lives have ever been the same since the cancer attacked their bones or brains.
And now the pair, both 76, are among countless others that want to hold Monsanto accountable for the chemical they believe nearly killed them.
Their testimony comes as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry releases a draft of a highly-anticipated report on glysophate, the chemical the Pilliods say sickened them.
For the better part of their 50 years of marriage, the Pilliods say they sprayed their properties with Roundup.
They relied on the market-dominating weedkiller to keep their lawns tidy and weed-free - as did countless Americans - for 30 years.
Neither half of the couple ever questioned what the blockbuster weedkiller might
