According to Reuters, Bayer recently asked a California judge to “limit” or better said- suppress– evidence, by splitting an upcoming trial into two parts (something that had been successful with another judge). The company is in litigation (there are thousands of trials over Monsanto‘s Roundup on the dock) over its glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup.
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“Monsanto in a previously unreported filing on Jan. 15 asked California Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith in Oakland to split a March trial by a California couple into two phases.
Such a step would limit evidence the plaintiffs in the litigation consider crucial to their cases and describe as critical to a jury last year awarding $289 million in a similar case.
Under the company’s proposal, lawyers for Alva and Alberta Pilliod in the initial trial phase would be barred from introducing evidence that the company allegedly attempted to influence regulators and manipulate public opinion.”1
And there lies the truth; they want evidence barred. They have finally been caught and they are grasping at straws:
“Such evidence would be allowed only if glyphosate was found to have caused the Pilliods’ cancer and the trial proceeded to a second phase to determine the company’s liability.”2
Sadly, the U.S. District Judge overseeing the trial- Vince Chhabria- approved the company’s request. Lawyers for the plaintiffs intend to file their response with the court on Jan. 28th.
“In front of Chhabria, the attorneys said their scientific evidence allegedly showing glyphosate causes cancer was inextricably linked to Monsanto’s alleged wrongful conduct.
The lawyers contended that such evidence, including internal Monsanto documents, showed the company’s misconduct and was critical to California state court jury’s August 2018 decision to award $289 million in a similar case.
Bayer denies allegations that glyphosate causes cancer, saying decades of independent studies have shown the world’s most widely-used weed killer to be safe for human use.”3
Currently, Bayer/Monsanto faces more than 9,300 lawsuits over Roundup in state and federal courts.
RELATED STORY:
The Pilliods’ case is scheduled for March 18th. The couple, who are in their 70s, have alleged, “that their regular use of Roundup between 1975 and 2011 caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system.”4
We will be watching this case, and all Roundup cases, and update you as soon as more information becomes available.
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