Florida’s Farmers Face Serious Health Risks from Using Roundup Weed-Killer
In May 2019, a California jury awarded a couple in excess of $2 billion after they alleged they contracted Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma from prolonged exposure to Roundup’s key ingredient – glyphosate.
The premise for this suit, and some 13,400 other suits like it, involves three key areas that the developer of Roundup, Monsanto, displayed:
- Defective Design: a design defect exists when a defect is inherent in the design of the product itself. Roundup uses chemicals that are known to cause cancer and widespread environmental repercussions.
- Failure to Warn: A manufacturer, distributor or retailer can be held liable for a failure to provide adequate warnings on a product if a consumer suffers an injury as a result. Monsanto, then Bayer, had knowledge of the danger of their products yet did not provide consumers with an adequate warning. Notice that liability can exist for manufacturer, distributor, and retailer (which includes almost any big-box store).
- Negligence: A failure to behave with the level of care that someone of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same circumstances. This can also include when someone fails to act. In Monsanto’s case, an ordinary person would not usually distribute a product they know can harm people, plants, and animals, and then if they did, would not continue to do so for decades.
Widespread Use on Florida’s Citrus Farms Puts Farmers & Consumers At-Risk
Florida is known for its orange crops. It’s even displayed front-and-center on our license plates. But Florida’s citrus farmers and other agrarians rely on herbicides to control weeds from taking over their fields. Regrettably, these farmers and their workers have been unknowingly exposed to cancer-causing chemicals for years. Fearsome indeed is the tertiary consumer – you and I – that enjoy the fruits of Florida that may have residual exposure to these chemicals.
In 2019, a peer-reviewed, publically-available scientific study was published whereby researchers found that glyphosate produced genetic mutations that was passed on for generations. The study was important in establishing that, one, Roundup is the most commonly used pesticide worldwide, and two, it produces genetic abnormalities in the environment for years:
“One of the most widely used agricultural pesticides worldwide is the herbicide glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine), commonly known as Roundup… The transgenerational pathologies observed include prostate disease, obesity, kidney disease, ovarian disease, and parturition (birth) abnormalities.”
This research debunks decades of research studies that Monsanto funded themselves in an attempt to obfuscate the serious risks to human and environmental health. From the foods we eat to the waters we drink, to simply being in nature and coming in contact with these chemicals that don’t degrade, our very ecology is being harmed from the inside out. Frightening is the fact that glyphosate is used worldwide and accounts for 72% of global pesticide usage.
What If Roundup Caused Your Cancer While On-The-Job?
If you are in landscaping, particularly in Florida, you probably find yourself working year around. In this line of work, you more than likely spray for weeds every few weeks. Farmers and groundskeepers alike also heavily rely on Roundup for year-around weed control. Unfortunately, this repeated exposure to the cancer-causing chemicals in Roundup puts workers at an increased risk for developing several forms of cancer.
Workers Compensation laws can be tricky. While you may have developed cancer on-the-job, the insurance company can still deny your claim, especially when evidence is lacking for establishing the link between the work activity and cancer. The thousands of suits against Roundup are what’s known as a general mass tort. With a mass tort, each individual with a claim has to file their own suit rather than as with a class action where an entire group with similar injuries/damages files together. Unlike Workers Compensation claims, individuals can file a suit against the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer, as outlined above.
You or a loved one has Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, simply from using a product you thought was safe. What recourse do you have?
When your whole life has been turned upside down, our team comes alongside you to help bear the load for getting you the justice you deserve. At Farah and Farah, our product liability and personal injury teams handle nothing but these types of cases and stand ready to help answer all your questions and walk you through the process. If you or a loved one has developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) from exposure to Roundup, call us now.
We’ll come alongside you and your family, navigate the road to recovery, and fight for the compensation you need to start healing. The pain may never fully go away but you shouldn’t also face medical costs, lost wages, or a haggling insurance company in your time of need. Let us help, we’re here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, weekends, and holidays. We promise to do everything we can to make things right.
