EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio (WKBN and AP) – An East Liverpool woman says exposure to the weed killer Roundup made her sick.
In documents filed in federal court Wednesday, Bobbie Riley says that she used Roundup around her yard over a period of time to control weeds and that Roundup’s maker, Monsanto, failed to warn her and other consumers about the dangers of exposure to a chemical found in the popular weed killer.
Riley contends that she developed Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) due to exposure to glyphosate.
Glyphosate has been designated as a probable human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is an arm of the World Health Organization.
Riley’s attorney wrote in court filings that Monsanto should have known that the warnings disseminated with its Roundup products were inadequate and that they downplayed evidence about the risks, incidence, and prevalence of the side effects of Roundup and glyphosate-containing products.
Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against Roundup’s maker. In March, a federal jury in California awarded a man $80 million in damages after he blamed Roundup for his cancer.
Edwin Hardeman proved that Roundup’s design was defective, it lacked sufficient cancer warnings and its manufacturer, and that Monsanto was negligent, the six-person jury in San Francisco found.
It awarded Hardeman more than $5 million in compensation and an additional $75 million in punitive damages. Hardeman, 70, put his arm around his wife, Mary, as the verdict was read and hugged his attorneys.
Monsanto says studies have established that glyphosate, the active ingredient in its widely used weed killer, is safe and is appealing the ruling in the Hardeman case.
