Monsanto's 'cancer-causing' weedkiller destroyed my life, dying man tells court

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Guardian


Testifying in landmark trial, former school groundskeeper describes suffering allegedly caused by company’s chemicals

Sam Levin in San Francisco
@SamTLevin Email
Mon 23 Jul 2018 20.38 EDT Last modified on Mon 23 Jul 2018 21.12 EDT

Dewayne Johnson said that if he had known what he knew now about Roundup weedkiller, “I would’ve never sprayed that product on school grounds ... if I knew it would cause harm ... It’s unethical.”

Johnson, a former school groundskeeper in northern California who is terminally ill, was testifying Monday in his landmark suit against Monsanto about the cancer risks of the company’s popular weedkiller. He is the first person to take the agrochemical company to trial over allegations that the chemical sold under the Roundup brand is linked to cancer.

He spoke for the first time during the trial in San Francisco, detailing his use of Monsanto’s products, his extensive exposure to herbicides, and his belief that the chemicals caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), a blood cell cancer. He also described the suffering he endured as skin lesions took over his body.

“I’ve been going through a lot of pain,” said Johnson, a father of three who goes by the name Lee. “It really takes everything out of you ... I’m not getting any better.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jul/23/monsanto-trial-dewayne-johnson-cancer-roundup-weedkiller

[Initech]

1. Unchecked corporate greed is going to kill us all.

[KPN]

2. Yup. We need to check it!

[Duppers]

4. Votes republican too?

Just a guess.

[Midnight Writer]

5. Our mail carrier often confuses our houses, and he gets a lot of Republican literature election time

[Drahthaardogs]

6. Asbestos is not a chemical

It's a mineral. Im a toxicologist and used to work in this industry. The fact that you grouped thalidomide with 2,4-5T and 2,4_D makes me think you ought not be lecturing about this. I don't think you know as much as you think you do.

[Midnight Writer]

7. Gee, you are so right. I feel like such a dumbass for warning my neighbor. I guess all is well on

his side of the fence. I thought I was making a point to him that much of the shit "they" tell us is safe is not. Silly me.

Thanks for educating me.

[Drahthaardogs]

9. Someone had to.

Do tell what thalidomide has to do with 2,3,7,8-TCDD

[blugbox]

13. I believe you are missing the point.

They aren't saying everything they listed were all directly connected or anything... Just that all these various chemicals or minerals or whatever are always deemed "safe" until surprise surprise, it ends up being cancer causing.

[Drahthaardogs]

14. I get the point, but my point is

Using glyphosate is the sentence as 2,3,7,8-TCDD is fucking ridiculous to anyone who actually understands this stuff.

[CanSocDem]

10. It's corporate ownership of these toxic...

...substances that is the issue. Corporate responsibility should require them to make the products safe- not hide the toxic effects, lie to the consumer or flood the media with misleading propaganda.

.

[Duppers]

16. You've well demonstrated what kind of person you are.

So Midnight Writer used the word "chemicals" instead of * harmful substances*. Yeah, BFD, when he was only trying to make a general point. You could have chosen a polite way to make your point.

Stay smug. 😏

[Drahthaardogs]

17. His point is.nonsensical

And he doesn't know what the hell he is talking about. 2,3,7-8 TCDD is the dioxin by which all others are measured by an equavilency assessment.

Glyphosate has little if any cancer correlation. The WHO says it is probably weakly carcinogenic, the EPA does not list it as a carcinogen.

I work in the industry and I am tired of people with a thimble full of knowledge making stupid fucking comments like this. It would indicate corruption on my and my colleagues part and I take it personally.

So I'm the kind of person who does not folks spouting bullshit that implicates me and my colleagues as fuckers on the take. Sorry you don't like it.

[PatSeg]

8. That is really disturbing

It is bad enough that he uses it so freely on his property, but spraying it on a neighbor's property is trespassing.

[lagomorph777]

11. Is it legal to mention Monsanto here?

[tecelote]

12. What they call "regulations", we should call "protections".

Doing away with regulations sounds like a good idea. Doing away with protections does not.

[Nitram]

15. I agree. The way we frame issues is important. See "death tax," "rain tax," etc.