California environmental officials fought for the right of its consumers to know that glyphosate is a carcinogen, in its estimation. In April of 2018, a California court sided with the State of California and its Center for Food Safety in its legal dispute with Monsanto.
At issue in the legal battle is glyphosate, which is commonly used as an herbicide in weed killers and lawn care products like Roundup. For Monsanto, Roundup alone brings in billions annually, which helps explain why glyphosate should not be listed as a known carcinogen. While Monsanto presented scientific evidence that disputes glyphosate is a carcinogen, the California Appellate Court found the State of California’s argument more convincing.
California has aimed to place glyphosate as a known cancer-causing carcinogen under its influential Proposition 65 since 2015, which has helped Californians make safer decisions about the food they consume and products they use since 1986.
What Is Glyphosate?
Glyphosate is officially classified as a broad spectrum herbicide, and its beneficial properties as an herbicide were discovered by a Monsanto chemist in the 1970s. Since the discovery, glyphosate has gone on to become the world’s most regularly used herbicide, due in no small part to the glyphosate-based Roundup product of Monsanto’s.
In recent years, evidence has increasingly shown that the herbicide can cause cancer, starting with the International Agency of Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization’s findings in 2015 that glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic." It did not take long after that for California to issue its intent to list glyphosate as a Proposition 65 chemical based on those findings.
As such, the recent appellate court ruling is a landmark development in a years-long legal battle to update California’s Proposition 65 to include glyphosate in response to the latest science.
Should Californians Who Used Roundup Be Concerned for Their Safety?
The answer to this pressing question is a strongly debated legal and scientific issue, but increasingly, the answer points to yes. This is especially true if you or a loved one has used Roundup and been diagnosed with cancer.
Some evidence suggests that repeated use of Roundup makes a cancer diagnosis more likely, meaning that landscaping workers and similar industry professionals who used Roundup may have especially strong legal cases if diagnosed with cancer.
Hundreds of lawsuits have already been filed by cancer victims who allege Monsanto’s Roundup is responsible for their diagnosis, and the verdicts could potentially total billions of dollars in compensation to victims if the legal claims prove successful.
At The Ledger Law Firm, we represent cancer victims whose diagnosis was caused by legal wrongdoing, which includes mesothelioma victims who have recovered millions in compensation. We are ready to discuss the facts of your claim and discuss the possibility of receiving legal compensation for a cancer diagnosis that may have been caused by the use of Roundup or glyphosate chemicals.
Contact us online for a free case evaluation to discuss your legal claim today.
