Bayer finally got some good news after two recent major defeats in court. With more than 11,000 lawsuits pending, Bayer stands to lose billions, but at least the EPA is in its corner.

The lawsuits claim that glyphosate causes cancer. In March a federal jury in San Francisco awarded $80 million to Edwin Hardeman, a plaintiff with cancer. In August of last year, Bayer was ordered to pay 289 million to Dewayne Johnson, though the award got cut down to 78.5 million. Regardless, the EPA…

…continues to find that there are no risks to public health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label and that glyphosate is not a carcinogen.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Environmental advocates denounced the decision, and so did the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Agency.

Just weeks ago, the administration’s own officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry released a toxicology report for glyphosate, which confirms that exposure to the toxic herbicide is harmful to human health. ‘Health agencies and credible non-industry experts who’ve reviewed this question have all found a link between glyphosate and cancer,’ Sass says.”.

NRDC

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Right now Bayer is in the middle of the third glyphosate lawsuit. It’s a joint trial with Alva and Alberta Pilliod. Brent Wisner is representing the married couple from Livermore, California. They say that their 35 years of spraying Roundup on their residential properties gave them the disease.

The probability that both Alva and Alberta would get non-Hodgkin lymphoma is 1 in 20,000, Wisner told the 12-person jury in Oakland on Thursday. Their treating physician said it was so unlikely they would both develop the same cancer that an environmental factor like Roundup was the likely culprit.”

The Guardian

Alva was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2011. He has been in remission ever since, but he says the aggressive chemotherapy degraded his cognitive abilities. Alberta was diagnosed with the same cancer in 2015. She had a tumor in the middle of her brain. The chemotherapy left her with extensive brain damage and then she relapsed. She did more chemotherapy and is now said to be in remission.

In the lawsuit, Brent Wisner has made the explosive allegation that Monsanto used fake data to win over regulators.

The company planted one of its employees at a contract lab called Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories (IBT) in the 1970s to fake negative mouse carcinogenicity data for Roundup’s active ingredient glyphosate that were to be used to win regulatory approval for the weed killer in 1975; planned an attack to discredit the World Health Organization’s (WHO) cancer research agency, anticipating the agency would classify glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen in 2015; and exploited “deep connections” within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to classify glyphosate as non-carcinogenic.

The Guardian

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Glyphosate may increase the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 41%, but it’s not just cancer we have to worry about. A recent study showed that individuals who were exposed to pesticides were more than twice as likely to have heart problems including heart disease. Another recent study showed that prenatal exposure to glyphosate increased odds of having a child with autism spectrum disorder with intellectual disabilities by 30%. It also has been shown to cause tumors and birth defects.

And glyphosate is hard to avoid. Corn is often drenched in glyphosate, so are oats and wheat and many other very common crops. It’s been found in beer, wine, and coffee. In another study, it was found in 93% of urine tested.

Related: Foods Most Likely to Contain Glyphosate

Bayer bought Monsanto for 66 billion dollars in 2016. Since then Bayer’s share prices have been cut in half.

Bayer firmly believes that the science supports the safety of glyphosate-based herbicides, which are some of the most thoroughly studied products of their kind, and is pleased that the regulators tasked with assessing this extensive body of science continue to reach favorable conclusions.”

Bayer

A large study looking into how pesticides affect developing fetuses and newborn babies finds that the most commonly used pesticides may result in a higher risk of autism spectrum disorder.

The study, published in the BMJ, was led by Ondine von Ehrenstein, associate professor in the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California.

Researchers looked at the autism registry data and the pesticide use data in California. The study included 38,331 participants with 2,961 cases of autism.

Related: Foods Most Likely to Contain Glyphosate

Eleven “high use” pesticides were selected for examination. Ehrenstein chose these pesticides because previous research with animals found developmental (including fetal) and neurological issues.

Researchers looked at agricultural areas where these pesticides were frequently used. They found that pregnant women who reside within a 2,000-meter radius of such agricultural areas were much more likely to have children with neurological issues.

Prenatal exposure to glyphosate increased odds of having a child with autism spectrum disorder with intellectual disabilities by 30%.

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Exposure to the common insecticides chlorpyrifos, diazinon, permethrin, methyl bromide, and myclobutanil within the first year of a child’s life increased the odds for autism with comorbid intellectual disability by up to 50%.

 Findings suggest that an offspring’s risk of autism spectrum disorder increases following prenatal exposure to ambient pesticides within 2000 m of their mother’s residence during pregnancy, compared with offspring of women from the same agricultural region without such exposure. Infant exposure could further increase risks for autism spectrum disorder with comorbid intellectual disability.

BMJ

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This is the largest study but not the first one to show a link between autism and pesticides. The video below is from four years ago:

Glyphosate can be found in almost everything we eat, and a new study released by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group has confirmed that the herbicide is also in what we’re drinking. In a look at 20 popular beers and wines, the study confirmed that 19 of the 20 beverages reviewed contained glyphosate residue. The beverage that showed the highest levels of glyphosate was Sutter Home Merlot, with a concentration of 51.4 parts per billion (ppb). Bayer toxicologist William Reeves said via a spokesperson,

The reality is that regulatory authorities have strict rules when it comes to pesticide residues…The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets daily exposure limits at least 100 times below levels shown to have no negative effect in safety studies.”

CBS News

He goes on to say,

Assuming the greatest value reported, 51.4 ppb, is correct, a 125-pound adult would have to consume 308 gallons of wine per day, every day for life to reach the US Environmental Protection Agency’s glyphosate exposure limit for humans. To put 308 gallons into context, that would be more than a bottle of wine every minute, for life, without sleeping.”

An Incomplete Picture

At 51.4 ppb, the Sutter Home Merlot is well below what the EPA considers to be a safe level of glyphosate.

Related: Foods Most Likely to Contain Glyphosate

Wines

1. Sutter Home Merlot: 51.4 ppb
2. Beringer Founders Estates Moscato: 42.6 ppb
3. Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon: 36.3 ppb
4. Inkarri Malbec, Certified Organic: 5.3 ppb
5. Frey Organic Natural White: 4.8 ppb

Beers

1. Tsingtao Beer: 49.7 ppb
2. Coors Light: 31.1 ppb
3. Miller Lite: 29.8 ppb
4. Budweiser: 27.0 ppb
5. Corona Extra: 25.1 ppb
6. Heineken: 20.9 ppb
7. Guinness Draught: 20.3 ppb
8. Stella Artois: 18.7 ppb
9. Ace Perry Hard Cider: 14.5 ppb
10. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale: 11.8 ppb
11. New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale: 11.2 ppb
12. Sam Adams New England IPA: 11.0 ppb
13. Stella Artois Cidre: 9.1 ppb
14. Samuel Smith’s Organic Lager: 5.7 ppb
15. Peak Beer Organic IPA: N/A

That doesn’t mean it’s safe, though.

Mr. Reeves, the toxicologist for Bayer, mentions that the EPA’s limits are at least 100 times below levels examined in safety studies. Yet that agency allows much higher concentrations of glyphosate than other safety regulators. The regulations set by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) are much more severe. According to the EPA, a daily dose of 2 mg of glyphosate per kg of body weight should cause no ill effects. OEHHA’s safe daily level recommendations are 1,100 micrograms. OEHHA’s levels are nearly half of those put forth by the EPA.

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Causing Cancer

California has classified glyphosate as a carcinogen since 2017. The World Health Organization (WHO) was even earlier in linking the herbicide and cancer when the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) released a statement labeling glyphosate “probably carcinogenic to humans.” The EPA has resisted that label for years. In fact, evidence in the recent verdict against Monsanto for 289 million dollars contained correspondence between the agro-giant and a high ranking EPA official promising to derail a glyphosate safety study. 

The recent verdict against Monsanto (now Bayer) is only the first of more than 5000 lawsuits awaiting the company. Advertisements seeking participants for class-action lawsuits against Round-up are now commonplace on mainstream television. But it’s hard to believe we can come back from this without some serious change. Ninety-five percent of the drinks examined for this study had glyphosate residue. Glyphosate is showing in food, water, feminine hygiene products…the herbicide is everywhere.

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What’s Your Damage?

Finding glyphosate in beer and wine has consequences beyond how much you’re drinking. Though the herbicide is often found in organic products studies have found that people who consume greater amounts of organic food are less likely to develop cancer. On the flip side, Napa County, the heart of California wine country and an area with unusually high pesticide use, boasts the highest rates of childhood cancer. Perhaps the amount of glyphosate measured in these beverages is well below the recommended limit for consumptions, but that ignores the enviromental and health impacts of applying the pesticide in the first place.

Sources:

• Glyphosate Found in 19 of 20 Beers and Wines Tested – EcoWatch
• Consumer watchdog finds traces of Roundup weed killer in beer and wine – CBS
• Glyphosate pesticide in beer and wine – US PIRG
• California’s Proposed Limit Vs. The Amount Allowed by EPA – EWG
• Monsanto’s EPA-Manipulating Tactics Revealed in $289 Million Case – Rolling Stone

Glyphosate raises the risk of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in heavily-exposed individuals by 41 percent, according to a study by former EPA advisors. This is part of a growing body of evidence against Monsanto’s Roundup, now owned by Bayer, that may influence the new wave of lawsuits against the company. The study was a meta-analysis published in Mutation Research that analyzed the results of six earlier studies on glyphosate.

All authors claim to have no financial conflicts of interest.

Glyphosate is the most widely used broad-spectrum systemic herbicide in the world. Recent evaluations of the carcinogenic potential of glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) by various regional, national, and international agencies have engendered controversy. We investigated whether there was an association between high cumulative exposures to GBHs and increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in humans. We conducted a new meta-analysis that included the most recent update of the Agricultural Health Study (AHS) cohort published in 2018 along with five case-control studies. Using the highest exposure groups when available in each study, we report the overall meta-relative risk (meta-RR) of NHL in GBH-exposed individuals was increased by 41% (meta-RR = 1.41, 95% CI, confidence interval: 1.13–1.75). For comparison, we also performed a secondary meta-analysis using high-exposure groups with the earlier AHS (2005), and we determined a meta-RR for NHL of 1.45 (95% CI: 1.11–1.91), which was higher than the meta-RRs reported previously. Multiple sensitivity tests conducted to assess the validity of our findings did not reveal meaningful differences from our primary estimated meta-RR.”

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Lianne Sheppard is a former scientific adviser to the EPA on glyphosate.  In 2016 an advisory panel was instructed to determine the safety of glyphosate. Sheppard and to more of the study’s authors served on that panel. After reviewing multiple studies indicating a high likelihood that the herbicide is carcinogenic, the panel declared glyphosate to be noncarcinogenic. Bayer uses the panel’s findings as proof that their product is safe, but Sheppard criticized the EPA for “not following their own rules.”

Together, all of the meta-analyses conducted to date, including our own, consistently report the same key finding: exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides are associated with an increased risk of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.”

Bayer AG is facing more than 9,000 lawsuits in the US brought by people suffering from cancer. Plaintiffs blame Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicides for their cancer. Dewayne Johnson was the first plaintiff to go to trial; he won a unanimous jury verdict against Monsanto in August. A judge reduced the verdict, and of course, Monsanto is appealing. The next trial is set for February 25th, and with many more to follow.

Related: Foods Most Likely to Contain Glyphosate

It seems Monsanto sold to Bayer just in time. Monsanto was sued by Dewayne Johnson on the grounds that the weedkiller Roundup caused his cancer, and now Bayer is dealing with the fallout from the $289 million dollar verdict that has since been reduced to $78 million. Bayer says that pending lawsuits from 9,300 plaintiffs are also alleging that glyphosate causes cancer. The company reported this in late October.

Experts have stated that these lawsuits (with more to come) could end up costing Bayer billions of dollars. Bayer stated that hundreds of scientific studies show glyphosate is safe to use.

We continue to believe that we have meritorious defenses and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in all of these lawsuits.” – Bayer’s chief executive Werner Baumann

In a telephone conference, Baumann has also been quoted as saying,

Glyphosate is an indispensable chemical for modern agriculture that is safe to use, very effective and saves resources. When used appropriately, glyphosate is a completely safe and good product. Completely safe.”

Glyphosate is Roundup’s active ingredient and it’s the most popular weed killer in the United States. The EPA maintains that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to people. But the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer said in 2015 that glyphosate was “probably carcinogenic.” And the EPA had labeled glyphosate as a carcinogen in 1985, but the FDA reversed their position in 1991.

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California has glyphosate listed as a chemical known to cause cancer under Prop 65.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who was involved in the glyphosate lawsuit (the Miller Firm says he was at the trial but not on the trial counsel team), is well known for raising awareness regarding vaccine damage (he is often cited as an anti-vaxxer but he is not). Kennedy Jr. now claims to have obtained incriminating documents regarding Monsanto’s business practices in Europe.

What we have is the tip of the iceberg. And in fact we have documents now in our possession, several hundreds of documents, that have not been declassified and some of those are explosive.” – EuroNews

It’s being reported that the European Union is likely to withdraw the license for Roundup before the year is over.

In addition to the glyphosate lawsuits, Monsanto’s dicamba herbicide is causing trouble across farm country:

It’s happening again. In states from Mississippi to Indiana, some US soybean farmers are seeing a troubling sight: Previously healthy plants begin to look wan, their leaves puckering into a cup-like shape. Similar symptoms are hitting trees, ornamental and garden plants, flowers, berries, and vegetables.” –Mother Jones

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Additional Sources:

• Monsanto owner Bayer hit by new wave of lawsuits over Roundup weed killer – RT
• U.S. EPA says glyphosate not likely to be carcinogenic to people – Reuters
  

Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, the groundskeeper who was awarded $289 million in a civil suit against Bayer’s Monsanto, has agreed to accept the reduced award of $78 million. Dewayne went to trial on the grounds that the weedkiller Roundup caused his cancer. The jury awarded him $39 million in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages. Superior Court Judge Suzanne Bolanos cut the award by $211 million, stating that punitive damages at more than seven times the size of the compensatory award are not legally justified.

In enforcing due process limits, the Court does not sit as a replacement for a jury but only as a check on arbitrary awards.”

Johnson could have demanded a new trial, but instead, he accepted the reduced award of $78 million. Doctors report he has very little time left to live. Johnson accepted the lower amount in a desire to reach “a final resolution within his lifetime,” spokeswoman Robin McCall told The Associated Press.

Related: Foods Most Likely to Contain Glyphosate

Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, was 42, working as a groundskeeper and pest-control manager in Northern California, when he developed a rash that led to a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in August 2014. Court records say duties at work included mixing and spraying hundreds of gallons of Roundup, Monsanto’s glyphosate-based weedkiller.

His attorney disagreed with the judge’s settlement reduction, but Johnson will accept the lower amount in hopes of achieving “a final resolution within his lifetime,” spokeswoman Robin McCall told The Associated Press.

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Bayer acquired Monsanto in June. In an emailed statement Bayer spokesperson Charla Lord told NPR:

The Court’s decision to reduce the punitive damage award by more than $200 million is a step in the right direction, but we continue to believe that the liability verdict and damage awards are not supported by the evidence at trial or the law and plan to file an appeal with the California Court of Appeal.

There is an extensive body of research on glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides, including more than 800 rigorous registration studies required by EPA, European and other regulators, that confirms that these products are safe when used as directed.”

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Glyphosate is one of the most widely used and well-known herbicides in the U.S. Reuters reports that Bayer faces about 8,000 more lawsuits on the herbicide.

It seemed as though Superior Court Judge Suzanne Bolanos was about to overturn the infamous $289 million verdict against Monsanto’s weed killer, glyphosate. The good news is that the San Fransico judge has upheld the ruling. The bad news is that she cut the award down to $78 million.

The compensation damages were set at $39 million and the punitive damage awarded (punishment) by the jury was $250 million. Judge Bolanos cut the punitive damage from $250 million to $39 million, matching compensation damages for a total award of $78 million. Bolanos said punitive damages that are more than seven times the size of the compensatory award are not legally justified. She said the ratio should be 1-to-1. The judge set a December 7th deadline for the plaintiff to accept a total of $78.6 million. Johnson’s spokeswoman, Diana McKinley, says that they are reviewing the decision and are yet to decide. If this award is rejected, Bayer is entitled to a new trial on just the punitive damages, according to the judge. Reportedly, Diana McKinley also said,

Related: Foods Most Likely to Contain Glyphosate

Although we believe a reduction in punitive damages was unwarranted and we are weighing the options, we are pleased the court did not disturb the verdict.”

Bayer recently acquired Monsanto. It’s stock fell more than percent in Frankfurt trading yesterday, which is the biggest drop since the Aug. 13 jury verdict.

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Judge Suzanne Ramos Bolanos rejected Bayer’s arguments that the jury didn’t have legal basis to conclude that glyphosate causes cancer. Bayer says it will appeal the August 13th ruling. Bayer is facing another 8,700 plaintiffs who are saying that glyphosate causes cancer.

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