Monsanto Takes Shot at Reversing $80M Federal Roundup Verdict
The Recorder | By Ross Todd
In court papers filed Friday, Bayer’s lawyers at Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz; Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer; Hollingsworth; and Covington & Burling claim the jury’s finding that Roundup use caused Sonoma County resident Edwin Hardeman’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma runs counter to regulatory determinations and scientific evidence showing that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, doesn’t pose a cancer threat to humans when used properly. Monsanto’s lawyers also argued that U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, who is overseeing the Roundup MDL, got several evidentiary rulings wrong.
In particular, Monsanto’s lawyers claim that although plaintiffs were allowed to introduce evidence related to a 2015 finding by a United Nations-related body that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic” in humans, the company wasn’t allowed to introduce evidence from other regulatory bodies, which have subsequently found Roundup safe to use as directed.