In a California trial over the active ingredient in Roundup, Monsanto’s parent company Bayer recently asked the judge to limit evidence by separating the trial into two phases.

The proposed bifurcation would limit the evidence that plaintiffs Alva and Alberta P. could introduce during the trial – including evidence that Monsanto allegedly manipulated regulators and the public to influence their opinion. The proposal by the company would only allow this evidence to be introduced if, in the first phase of the trial, glyphosate was found to have caused Alva and Alberta’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Restricting evidence regarding Monsanto’s alleged manipulation may undermine the plaintiffs’ case. Similar evidence was reportedly critical in securing a $289 million jury award in a Roundup cancer lawsuit last year.

The company’s tactic worked in federal court earlier this year when it made the same request of U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco. Judge Chhabria is overseeing around 680 cases in a consolidated multidistrict litigation.

“This court need only look across the Bay to determine whether (splitting up the trial) is appropriate for a Roundup/glyphosate trial,” Monsanto argued.

Roundup is a pesticide used both domestically and industrially, with countless workers and home owners exposed to glyphosate – the active ingredient in Roundup – every year.

Plaintiffs in the case claim that, due to their use of Roundup between 1975 and 2011, they both developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. They are far from alone in making those allegations. In over 9,300 lawsuits against Monsanto, consumers claim that glyphosate is dangerous and causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and various other cancers including: leukemia, multiple myeloma, B-cell lymphoma, bone cancer, renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer), skin tumors, pancreatic islet cell tumors, and other cancers.

Backing up these claims is a 2015 report released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which reportedly concluded that glyphosate is linked to cancer. The report, which also linked four other pesticides to cancer, was prompted by several studies across the globe dating as early as 2001.

In 2011, the American Association for Cancer Research published a Canadian study which noted that men exposed to glyphosate for under 10 years were developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A U.S. study published in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Journal concluded that glyphosate was “potentially carcinogenic” and was “associated with increased NHL [non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma] incidence.” In 2008, the International Journal of Cancer published a Swedish study which found that, after less than ten years of exposure to glyphosate, the risk for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma doubled.

Plaintiffs in lawsuits against Monsanto claim that these studies and other support the link between glyphosate and cancer. They also argue that Monsanto committed “scientific fraud” by deceiving regulatory bodies in order to make sure their Roundup products stay on the market.

Bayer denies that the active ingredient in Roundup causes cancer – claiming that “decades of independent studies” have shown that glyphosate is safe for human use, according to Reuters.

If you or a loved one developed cancer after using Roundup as a farm worker or home gardener, you may have a legal claim. Legal migrant farm workers may also seek help. Learn more by filling out the form on this page for a FREE case evaluation.

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