Still problems for Monsanto. A couple of coffee farmers who had worked at South Kona Coffee Farm in Hawaii have sued Monsanto claiming that the GMO multinational has deliberately kept the carcinogenic effects of glyphosate under wraps for years.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Still problems for Monsanto. A couple of coffee farmers who had worked at South Kona Coffee Farm in Hawaii he sued Monsanto claiming that the multinational GMO has deliberately kept the carcinogenic effects of glyphosate.
Glyphosate is the active ingredient present in the herbicide Roundup produced by the multinational. The civil suit was filed in the Honolulu courthouse from Christine e Kenneth Sheppard, former owners of Dragon's Lair Coffee Farm.
Christine got sick of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2003, after using the Roundup herbicide for eight years in the coffee crops of his own farm. Due to her illness, she Christine found herself forced to sell the company in 2004 and move to California, where she is still being treated.
The woman sued Monsanto in hopes of receiving a economic compensation for what happened and arguing that the multinational has for years been aware of the negative effects of glyphosate on health but has kept them hidden from the world to protect its economic interests.
The WHO last year, through the IARC, entered the glyphosate among the probably carcinogenic substances for humans, yet Monsanto continues to deny Roundup is harmful, particularly based on a new EFSA assessment that glyphosate is unlikely to be carcinogenic (read Thu EFSA's opinion on glyphosate).
Christine Sheppard's attorney, Michael miller, accused Monsanto to have conducted a disinformation campaign and believes the Sheppard lawsuit will force the multinational to face the consequences of its lies on farmers' health.
Christine has struggled with lymphoma for over ten years. Now the disease is in remission but the fear is that she may return. Thanks to her attorney for her, she is trying to get compensation for her medical bills, as well as for the anguish and pain she has been through.
According to Monsanto, as reported the Hawaiian press, the Sheppards' claims about glyphosate are baseless. Monsanto claims that glyphosate has a 40-year history of safe use and can be used safely by following the instructions on the label. Monsanto claims that no regulatory agency in the world considers glyphosate to be a carcinogen.
And then the IARC decision to include glyphosate among the probably carcinogenic substances it really doesn't matter?
Read Thu the WHO document on carcinogenic glyphosate.
Marta Albè
Read also:
WHO: 5 pesticides classified as carcinogenic to humans
Glyphosate: Does EFSA turn a blind eye to cancer risk?
Roundup Monsanto and cancer: the two brave farmers who took Monsanto to court
