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Carey Gillam
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Another legal blow to Bayer in Roundup litigation
The U.S. Solicitor General on Tuesday dealt a blow to Monsanto owner Bayer AG, advising the U.S. Supreme Court that it should deny the company’s request for a review of a key Roundup cancer trial loss.
Bayer has seen the Supreme Court as its last and best hope for putting a stop to the flood of lawsuits filed by tens of thousands of people claiming exposure to Roundup weed killing products caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
The brief from Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar states that “There is no sound reason for the Court to grant review…”
Guest column: Syngenta’s paraquat product kills weeds, but also people
By Jon Heylings
From 1986 until 2008, I worked as the lead scientist on a project aimed at creating a “safer” paraquat-based weed killing product for what was then known as the ICI Central Toxicology Laboratory, which became part of Syngenta AG in 2000.
Monsanto on trial again – Missouri Roundup case begins
Nearly four years after the first-ever trial over allegations that exposure to Roundup herbicide causes cancer a new trial was underway on Tuesday, pitting a 34-year-old man suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) against Monsanto owner Bayer AG.
Allan Shelton, a lifelong resident of Kansas City, Mo., was diagnosed with NHL in May 2016, a little more than a year after international cancer scientists affiliated with the World Health Organization classified the active ingredient in Roundup, a chemical called glyphosate, as a probable human carcinogen.
Guest column: Cryptocurrency technology transition needed to avoid accelerating environmental crisis
By Tony Guo and Julian Picard of Project Earth
One of the hottest debates in environmental circles today is the debate over cryptocurrencies, and whether or not these digitized/virtual currencies are the high-tech wave of the future, or an accelerator of environmental crisis. The answer so far, it appears, is both.
Signs of a silent poisoning- Pesticide contamination in Nebraska threatens a community
MEAD, Nebraska- For a visitor to this rural part of eastern Nebraska, the crisp air, blue skies and stretch of seemingly endless farm fields appear as unspoiled landscape. For the people who live here, however, there is no denying that they are immersed in an environmental catastrophe researchers fear may impact the area for generations to come.
The signs of a silent poisoning are everywhere: A farmhouse has been abandoned by its owners after their young children experienced health problems; a pond once filled with fish and frogs is now barren of all life; university researchers are collecting blood and urine from residents to analyze them for contaminants; and a local family now drinks water only from plastic bottles because tests show chemical contamination of their drinking well.
It has been just over a year since state regulators stepped in to close down the AltEn LLC ethanol plant on the outskirts of Mead, Nebraska that was found to be the source of massive quantities of toxic, pesticide-laced waste. The waste spilled and spread throughout the area, including into waterways that provide drinking water for people and wildlife.
Interview: Lawyer Rob Bilott on PFAS “worldwide public health threat” and his letter to President Biden
Last month, an Ohio court certified a class action lawsuit brought by lawyer Rob Bilott that would cover seven million people – and at some point potentially everyone living in the United States – who have been exposed to certain hazardous chemicals known as Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances or PFAS. The chemicals have been linked to cancer, birth defects, kidney disease and a range of other human health problems. They are dubbed “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down, persisting indefinitely in the environment. Two types of PFAS – PFOA and PFOS – have been found to be so harmful that they are being phased out of use. In addition to 3M, the class action lawsuit names ten other companies that produce PFAS, which are used to make cookware, food packaging, water-resistant fabrics, firefighting foam and other products. The Biden administration last year pledged to undertake a massive PFAS mitigation strategy at a cost of more than $10 billion.
You have spent 20 some years now focused on exposing the danger of a class of chemicals we call PFAS, using litigation to try to hold companies involved in spreading PFAS accountable, and pressuring regulators to step up and do more to protect the public. You’ve written a book, “Exposure,” been featured in the NY Times as “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” and your legal battle has been made into a Hollywood movie called “Dark Waters,” as well as a documentary. Why are you so passionate about this issue?
Guest column: A call for coming together: Pesticide concerns need to be addressed
By Judy Wu-Smart
It has been approximately five years since I began finding total losses of the honey bee colonies located on a University research and extension center near Mead, Nebraska, where I keep bees and work as a scientist studying pesticides and bee decline. And it’s been more than two years since I began to suspect something terribly wrong was happening around the university research station.
Guest column: What are pesticides doing to pregnancies? We’re trying to find out.
As we collectively pass what many consider to be two-year anniversary of COVID emergence, the field of clinical research has never been more visible in our day-to-day lives. Published studies on viral mechanisms, promising treatments, and vaccine development, among other COVID-related topics, have dominated media reports since early 2020.
Unfortunately, the laser-like focus on the story of COVID has left other research areas in the shadows, fighting for time, attention, and funding.
Former Monsanto CEO could have to testify at upcoming Roundup trial
Former Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant lost his appeal to escape testifying at an upcoming trial over claims that the company’s Roundup herbicide causes cancer.
The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Friday denied Grant’s petition that sought to quash a subpoena compelling Grant to testify in person in the case of Allan Shelton v Monsanto. The trial of the civil suit is set to begin May 2 in Kansas City, Missouri.