In the latest blow to the company, American lawyers have announced to a European Parliamentary special committee that they are in possession of “explosive” documents regarding Monsanto’s affairs in both the United States and Europe.
And the hits keep coming …
Monsanto is famous for its role in the evolution of genetic modification of crops in the United States. Its genetically modified seeds and compatible herbicides – particularly the now infamous glyphosate-based Roundup – have established it as an international agricultural powerhouse. For years, the agri giant appeared untouchable, destroying people’s lives with its toxic products apparently without consequence.
The independent media and groups like the Organic Consumers Association fought for more than two decades to reveal the true extent of Monsanto’s evil to the world and to hold the company accountable for its actions around the globe.
Then, in March 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced the result of its examination of five organophosphate pesticides, including glyphosate, the primary ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide product. Since many other supposedly independent studies had claimed that glyphosate was not dangerous to humans, the IARC’s study caused shockwaves around the globe.
For the herbicide glyphosate, there was limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The evidence in humans is from studies of exposures, mostly agricultural, in the USA, Canada, and Sweden published since 2001. In addition, there is convincing evidence that glyphosate also can cause cancer in laboratory animals.
Almost immediately, Monsanto became the target of over 5,000 lawsuits by farmers and others who developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma as the result of their use of Roundup. (Related: Thousands of people now have non-Hodgkin's lymphoma due to glyphosate exposure, warns legal firm that's suing Monsanto.)
And the lawsuits have been successful. In August, Monsanto was ordered to pay a former school groundskeeper from San Francisco $289 million, after the court found that years of using the company’s Roundup product contributed to the development of the cancer that the man is now dying from.
“What we have is the tip of the iceberg,” U.S. lawyer Robert Kennedy Jr. told Euro News. “And in fact we have documents now in our possession, several hundreds of documents, that have not been declassified and some of those are explosive.” These documents, Kennedy claims, “are pertinent to what Monsanto did here in Europe. And that's just the beginning.”
Since the court’s verdict, the number of lawsuits filed against Monsanto has increased to 8,000.
The court’s finding comes at a dangerous time for Monsanto and its new owner Bayer. Roundup’s registration in the European Union (EU) was only increased by five years to 2022, instead of the 15 years it was previously granted. And the EU is considering revoking the license as early as later this year.
Interestingly, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined back in 1985 that glyphosate was carcinogenic (cancer-causing), but then mysteriously reversed its position in 1991. Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, the EPA continues to insist that glyphosate is unlikely to cause cancer. The state of California has added glyphosate to its Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to be cancer-causing. (Related: EPA hid truth about glyphosate and cancer for decades to protect Monsanto's corporate profits.)
One wonders: How much more evidence does the U.S. government need before it finally acknowledges that Roundup – and its manufacturer, Monsanto – is evil?
Discover the truth at Monsanto.news.
Sources for this article include:
IARC.fr[PDF]
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