(Oakland, CA, Thursday, May 16, 2019) – After a five-week trial and three days of deliberation, an Oakland, CA jury ordered Monsanto to pay Alberta and Alva Pilliod approximately $55 Million dollars in compensation for the cancer they developed after using Monsanto’s pesticide Roundup. The jury additionally ordered Monsanto to pay $2 billion dollars in punitive damages for its conscious disregard of human safety in marketing its product without a cancer warning. A major recent study by scientist selected by the EPA for the EPA scientific advisory panel shows glyphosate-based herbicides are associated with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The Pilliod’s purchased a home in California in 1982 and began regularly spraying Roundup at their home and other residences until 2017.  In total the Pilliod’s sprayed Roundup for approximately 1,500 days. In June of 2011, after 30 years of spraying Roundup Mr. Pilliod was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a form of is Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Then in March of 2015, Mrs. Pilliod was diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma of the central nervous system.

Bayer’s stock has taken a beating since the jury verdicts started coming in last summer, losing billions of dollars in value. Shares have fallen roughly 40% since Bayer completed its purchase of Monsanto in June.

Using glyphosate-based herbicides can increase the risk of getting Non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 41% to 200% depending on exposure. Monsanto has been aware of this fact for decades, but still refuses to warn consumers like the Pilliod’s about the risk of cancer with Roundup. The Miller Firm in Orange, Virginia represents 2,000 plaintiffs with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and they expect to take their cases against Monsanto to a jury many more times in the coming years.

In the nearly 20 years of intensifying exposure, scientists have been documenting the health consequences of Roundup and glyphosate in our food, water and air. They’ve found that people who are sick have higher levels of glyphosate in their bodies than healthy people. Monsanto has marketed Roundup to parks departments and consumers as “biodegradable” and “environmentally friendly,” to also encourage its use it on playgrounds, golf courses, lawns, and home gardens. Roundup is still routinely sprayed directly on non-GMO crops, including wheat, barley, oats, canola, flax, peas, lentils, soybeans, dry beans, and sugar cane.