(NaturalHealth365) At least twice this year we’ve reported on the damaging health effects of the infamous herbicide called glyphosate – the chief ingredient in the weedkiller Roundup, now owned by Bayer.  This chemical is linked to cancer – as seen in a September 2019 meta-analysis which showed that exposure to glyphosate may increase the risk of cancer by over 40%.

Now, in the most outrageous news, a recent victory for an individual suffering the effects of this powerful carcinogen may be overturned – and the call for the Bayer AG court case reversal is coming from some of the top dogs in the United States government.

Bayer gets support from the U.S. government in its Roundup cancer case

A former Monsanto “golden child,” Roundup is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. Roundup became the property of Bayer AG after the major pharmaceutical company bought out the beleaguered Big Agra Monsanto in 2016. This left Bayer to deal with the Roundup controversy.

The controversy – that the weedkiller’s key ingredient glyphosate causes cancer in humans (along with liver disease and other health conditions) – came to a head in a California federal court earlier this year, when Edwin Hardeman was awarded $80.27 million in a suit brought against Bayer AG.  He and his legal team successfully argued that Roundup (and specifically the glyphosate found within it) caused Hardeman to develop cancer.

Soon after, the judge overseeing the case decided that the amount awarded for punitive damages was too high, so he reduced Hardeman’s compensation to less than $26.3 million.  Far less than the original amount – but at least it was still something that could set a precedent for Big Agra companies and show them that they shouldn’t take advantage of American consumers by exposing them to harmful carcinogen compounds.

The award also eased some of the understandable burden on Hardeman and his loved ones caused by his cancer diagnosis.

Not long after this reduction in compensation, however, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Justice department sided with Bayer AG and called for a reversal of the lower court verdict. Not just a reduction in compensation – but a total reversal!

Their reasoning?  Bayer AG could not be held liable for Hardeman’s cancer, because, as both the EPA and the Justice department claim, Roundup doesn’t cause cancer. And if glyphosate doesn’t cause cancer, then a carcinogen warning label on the product, wouldn’t be required despite California state law demanding otherwise.

Does this story sound familiar? Californian man not the first cancer patient to bring suit against Roundup

Go figure – a state law meant to protect consumers, only to be deemed unnecessary according to the federal government. Never mind that multiple studies and even the World Health Organization stand by data showing that this weed killer is “a probable human carcinogen.”

We’re staying closely tuned to see how this turns out for Hardeman and others like him.

By the way, you’re not having déjà vu. While Hardeman is the first person to bring Monsanto (as Bayer AG) to federal court over his cancer diagnosis, about 11,000 other plaintiffs are suing Bayer AG/Monsanto, as well.  And in 2018, successful court case was launched by Dewayne Johnson and his legal team, who also asserted that his terminal cancer was caused by his exposure to the chemical, too.

Sadly, Johnson’s compensation was subsequently reduced, as well.

Sources for this article include:

Yahoo.com
CNN.com
Sciencedirect.com
Sciencemag.com