science

April 10, 2022

Former Monsanto CEO files for protective order in Roundup case

Former Monsanto Co. Chairman and CEO Hugh Grant is appealing a judge’s order that would allow lawyers for a cancer patient to question him on the stand in a trial scheduled to start next month in Kansas City.

Lawyers for the former Monsanto executive filed a flurry of documents with the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Friday seeking to quash a subpoena compelling Grant to testify in person in the case of Allan Shelton v Monsanto.

April 7, 2022

St. Louis Roundup trial is off; parties settle

Just days before the scheduled start of what would have been the first Roundup cancer trial to take place in St. Louis, the former hometown of Monsanto Co., the three plaintiffs in the case on Wednesday agreed to accept a settlement offer from the maker of Roundup herbicide, which the plaintiffs alleged caused them each to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The judge had agreed to allow Courtroom View Network to livestream the trial.

March 24, 2022

Monsanto seeks “emergency” delay for St. Louis trial

Monsanto on Thursday asked a St. Louis judge to delay the start of a trial over claims brought by three men alleging exposure to Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicides, such as the popular Roundup brand, caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Opening statements in the case of Neal v. Monsanto are expected next week. But on Thursday morning Monsanto requested a continuance “due to exigent circumstances.” The company did not detail its reasons in the filing.

March 10, 2022

Omnibus funding bill offers modest 3.4% funding boost for EPA

Congress is advancing an omnibus spending package for fiscal year 2022 that includes a modest budget increase of 3.4 percent for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which falls short of the larger increase President Joe Biden requested.

The bipartisan spending agreement, which the House approved March 9 and the Senate is expected to pass soon, includes $9.56 billion in FY22 funding for the EPA, an increase of $323 million over 2021. Biden had asked Congress for $11.23 billion for the agency.

March 4, 2022

Syngenta’s Monsanto moment

Five years ago the once seemingly invincible Monsanto Co. was dealt its first searing courtroom loss over allegations that its glyphosate weed killer causes cancer and Monsanto worked to hide the risks. That loss was followed by another, and another, and the global recognition of damning internal Monsanto documents that ultimately led Monsanto owner Bayer AG to agree to pony up more than $11 billion to settle thousands of cancer claims. The litigation still lingers as Bayer wrestles with angry investors and plans to remove glyphosate-based products, such as the widely used Roundup herbicide, from the US consumer market.

Now it’s Syngenta’s turn.

March 3, 2022

Hard to swallow? The FDA moves to take a tougher stance on PFAS in food

The Food and Drug Administration is “responsible for protecting the public health.” Or so says the first line of the agency’s mission statement.

As part of that mission, the agency has been positioning itself as taking a tougher stance with companies involved in the manufacturing and use of a harmful group of widely used industrial chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, short-handed as PFAS. The substances are used to make products resistant to water, grease and stains along with an array of other applications.

March 1, 2022

Justices question scope of EPA’s power to regulate utility greenhouse gases

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on February 28 in a case debating the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Air Act power to regulate greenhouse gases, a case in which the ruling is likely to have significant implications for the Biden administration’s plan to fight the climate crisis.

A West Virginia-led coalition of states wants a ruling from the court that would curtail the EPA’s authority, but faces pushback from the agency and some of its unlikely utility industry allies.

February 22, 2022

A not so appetizing report on weed killer in our food

New testing of food products from Iowa groceries finds “alarming” levels of glyphosate

Researchers reported Tuesday that they found “widespread” contamination of common grocery store items with the controversial weed killing chemical called glyphosate, known popularly by the brand name Roundup.

In a test of 86 food products sampled from groceries in Des Moines, Iowa, more than half – 45 – of the products were found to contain what the researchers called “alarming” levels of glyphosate. Whole wheat breads contained the highest levels, with chickpeas and Quaker Oats also showing high levels, according to the report.