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 The lawsuits come six months after the World Health Organization's
cancer research unit said it was classifying glyphosate, the active
weed-killing ingredient in Roundup and other herbicides, as
"probably carcinogenic to humans."
One suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Sept. 22,
names as plaintiff 58-year-old Enrique Rubio, a former farm worker
in California, Texas and Oregon who over several years labored in
fields of cucumbers, onions and other vegetable crops.
His duties included spraying fields with Roundup and other
pesticides before Rubio was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1995, the
lawsuit states.
A separate lawsuit making similar claims was filed the same day in
federal court in New York by Judi Fitzgerald, 64, who claims she was
exposed in the 1990s to Roundup when she worked at a horticultural
products company. Fitzgerald was diagnosed with leukemia in 2012.
Attorney Robin Greenwald, one of the attorneys who brought Rubio's
case, said on Tuesday that she expects more lawsuits to follow
because Roundup is the most widely used herbicide in the world and
the WHO cancer classification gives credence to long-held concerns
about the chemical.
"I believe there will be hundreds of lawsuits brought over time,"
said Greenwald.
Monsanto spokeswoman Charla Lord said that the claims are without
merit and that glyphosate is safe for humans when used as labeled.
"Decades of experience within agriculture and regulatory reviews
using the most extensive worldwide human health databases ever
compiled on an agricultural product contradict the claims in the
suit which will be vigorously defended."
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The lawsuits claim that Roundup was a "defective" product and
"unreasonably dangerous" to consumers, and that Monsanto knew or
should have known that glyphosate could cause cancer and other
illnesses and injuries, failing to properly warn users of the risks.
The lawsuits claim the Environmental Protection Agency changed an
initial classification for glyphosate from "possibly carcinogenic to
humans" to "evidence of non-carcinogenicity in humans" after
pressure from Monsanto.
WHO scientists cited several studies showing cancer links to
glyphosate, though Monsanto has said the findings are wrong.
Since the WHO action, some product liability lawyers have been
seeking out plaintiffs for potential class-action lawsuits over
glyphosate, postings on legal websites show.
(Reporting By Carey Gillam in Kansas City, Mo.; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman)
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