An Oklahoma man has filed a Roundup lymphoma lawsuit claiming that Monsanto is behind the cancer he developed while using Roundup weed killer.

Plaintiff Clifford L. alleges that in the different places he’s lived including Jacksonville, Arkansas, Oklahoma City, and Augusta, Kansas, he used the Monsanto weed killer product, Roundup, on a regular basis.

His use of the product began back in 1974 and extended until 2011. He purchased Roundup in its liquid form, he claims in his Roundup lymphoma lawsuit.

According to his Roundup lymphoma lawsuit, in 1988, Clifford was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He alleges that for the entire time he used Roundup he had no idea that the main chemical in Roundup, glyphosate, could cause cancer.

He did not come to this understanding until well after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was diagnosed in 1988 and did not learn about the carcinogenic properties of glyphosate until 2015, his Roundup lymphoma lawsuit claims.

Overview of Glyphosate and Roundup

Monsanto is a one of the largest agricultural biotech and agrochemical companies in the world and is based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Perhaps its most recognizable product is Roundup, a weed killer used on crops as well as on private lawns. In the 1970s, Monsanto developed a chemical that they found was quite successful as an herbicide: glyphosate.

In 1974, the agriculture giant began to sell Roundup as a non-selective weed killer that could help farmers with the weeds that compete with crops. Essentially, it can be sprayed on everything, but only kills certain plants that contain a specific enzyme.

By 2001, glyphosate was the most widely used agricultural chemical in the United States, with the U.S. consuming 90 million pounds each year. That number had increased to 185 million pounds by 2007. Currently, it is estimated that 250 million pounds of glyphosate is used on American crops annually.

However, despite its popularity and success, Roundup has been connected with a host of health issues for both the farmers that use the product and possibly with food consumers as well.

As early as the 1990s, research has connected glyphosate with health problems. Many studies beginning in the early 2000s have found “cell cycle dysregulation” when glyphosate is present. Essentially, cell cycle dysregulation is the hallmark for tumor cells and human cancers.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen in 2015, according to this Roundup lymphoma lawsuit.

That same year, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) began requiring businesses who sold Roundup to post “clear and reasonable warnings” to the public that exposure to the product is known to cause cancer and/or birth defects and that that warning must reach the person effectively.

Monsanto disputed the California listing, saying that the OEHHA relied too heavily on the IAEC distinction, and was therefore invalid.

Many countries have banned the use and sale of Roundup, including Argentina, the Netherlands, Malta and Sri Lanka.

Clifford is filing this lawsuit on counts of design defect, failure to warn, negligence, breach of express warranty and breach of implied warranty.

This Roundup Lymphoma Lawsuit is Case No. 5:17-cv-00805-F in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

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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