California couple awarded $2 billion in Roundup weedkiller cancer case

A Californian Jury has ordered the makers of Roundup weedkiller, Bayer-owned Monsanto to pay more than $2 billion in damages to a couple who claim the weed killer caused their cancer.

Having purchased Monsanto last year for over €60 billion, it’s their third defeat in courtroom cases involving their Roundup weed killer.

The couple’s legal team said the damages awarded were ‘historic’ adding that the total damages have surpassed $2.055 billion.

"The jury saw for themselves internal company documents demonstrating that, from day one, Monsanto has never had any interest in finding out whether Roundup is safe," Alva and Alberta Pilliod’s lawyer told AFP.

"Instead of investing in sound science, they invested millions in attacking science that threatened their business agenda."

There are currently over 13,000 lawsuits against Bayer in the United States, over the chemicals found in their weedkiller.

In a statement, Bayer said it was disappointed with the ruling citing the plaintiff’s long histories of illness that could have led them to contract cancer and will be appealing the verdict.

"The contrast between today’s verdict and (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s) conclusion that there are ‘no risks to public health from the current registered uses of glyphosate’ could not be more stark,” Bayer said.