Lawsuits Uncover Monsanto’s Effort To Hide Roundup As Cancer Causing

Via America’s Lawyer: On this episode of America’s Lawyer, attorney Mike Papantonio takes on Monsanto over its RoundUp weed killer which contains a herbicide known as glyphosate, a compound found to be carcinogenic by the World Health Organization in 2015. Mike then speaks with attorney, Robin Greenwald, about her lawsuit against Monsanto and the EPA’s role in providing cover for the agro-chemical giant for years. Mike then talks to Geoffrey Fieger, the attorney who represents Dr. Jack Kevorkian about the movement to legalize doctor assisted suicide nationwide. Mike is then joined by journalist Mollye Barrows, to discuss a controversial death penalty case in Alabama, and whether the state’s use of the death penalty is unconstitutional. America’s Lawyer wraps up the show by highlighting a national lawsuit against generic drug makers for conspiring to fix prices.

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Environmental lawyers have begun filing lawsuits against Monsanto for cancer deaths related to their product Roundup. What these lawsuits are showing is an effort, both on the part of Monsanto and the US government to minimize the message about the dangers of Roundup in relationship to human cancer. The story begins as early as the 1980's when laboratory tests on glyphosate began to show cellular changes in laboratory animals that should have been considered early signs of relationship to cancer. In fact in 1985, the EPA during a time when it was actually effective, a time when it actually worked on behalf of a safe environment, they determined that glyphosate, the primary ingredient of Roundup, needed to be classified as a class C carcinogen, which meant that it clearly was suggestive of a relationship to cancer. But then miraculously, six years later, the EPA suddenly changed that classification to something just the opposite, where they claimed that no, they were wrong. And overnight, glyphosate, according to the EPA and Monsanto, the public has no worries, nothing to worry about here, just move on.

All of the laboratory testing from the early '80's that the EPA used to classify glyphosate as a cancer agent suddenly becomes unavailable to the public, unavailable to doctors, and Monsanto argues that all of that early testing falls under the protection of trade secrets, so it can't be shared with anyone. The next twist takes place, the World Health Organization issues a statement in 2015 maintaining that glyphosate in Monsanto Roundup, in their words, is probably a human carcinogen. As you might imagine, Monsanto called in its army of paid scientists and lobbyists and politicians, needing contributions in governmental agencies, more concerned with mega profits than human health. With government, corporate controlled media, and the White House pulling every string to protect Monsanto, it appears that the only place this story's gonna be fully told is in courtrooms in front of juries.

One of the lawyers handling the Monsanto Roundup case is an attorney called Robin Greenwald. You've heard that name because she's one of the finest environmental attorneys in the country. Robin, thanks for coming to the show.

Hi, Mike. Thank you for having me.

In the lawsuits that you've brought, Robin, have you made part of your claim that Roundup is primarily made up of glyphosate, they've failed to warn users about the connection between that and cancer in this product. Do they provide a warning about that, that the World Health Organization said should be provided?

No, Mike. There's no warning about an association between using Roundup and cancer. Our focus on our lawsuits is about Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. So, it's the use of Roundup and the outcome of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma by some users.

Robin, give us a-

And there is no warning.

Give us a rundown on what you've alleged in your lawsuits against Monsanto in regard to Roundup. The history, the knowledge, the possibility of them to fix this problem. Tell us what your lawsuit's about.

Sure. The saga, as you mentioned at the beginning, started really when Roundup was being registered through the EPA fit for program, the registration process.