Bayer, who is currently facing several Roundup lawsuits, is now slammed with a $500 million class-action lawsuit in Canada.
According to reports, around 360 Canadians have contacted law firms to join the class action lawsuit against Bayer. People affected with cancer, allegedly caused due to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, want more information about the lawsuit.
A law firm filed the first class-action lawsuit in Canada concerning the effect of Glyphosate used in Roundup. The lawsuit filed by the firm states that Glyphosate used in Roundup is the main reason for cancer among Saskatchewan farmers and other Canadian residents.
Another Canadian firm also filed a series of lawsuits in three different provinces against Bayer. On the other hand, Bayer has defended glyphosate by stating that it is not a carcinogen to cause cancer.
IARC, considered to be the apex in the field of cancer research, classified glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen.” According to IARC, Roundup is made up of other ingredients that are toxic in themselves, and are also known to increase the toxicity of glyphosate. Monsanto has known this for many years but still refuses to study the link between cancer and Roundup.
Monsanto has a brief history of legal troubles and Glyphosate is just another herbicide of the company to attract lawsuits. Plaintiffs across the U.S. have filed numerous lawsuits. A plaintiff from one of the Roundup lawsuits claims that she worked as a grower’s assistant on a crop field in New York from 1994 to 1998 where Roundup was regularly sprayed indoors and outdoors resulting in chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2012. She eventually quit the job and is currently seeking reasonable compensation and punitive damages in court.
There are many more lawsuits in the United States as compared to Canada, which sums to approximately 18,000. The lawsuits are consolidated under federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California, presided by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria.
