Are Roundup-cancer lawsuits about profit, politics or public health?

You might think that the popular weed killer known as Roundup is causing cancers around the world thanks to alarming news coverage of pending lawsuits. The first of thousands of such cases has now gone to trial in San Francisco, with the [jury finding for the plaintiff] that Roundup caused his non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

But don’t panic…it is highly unlikely that they have anything to do with glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in Roundup. Rather, opportunistic trial lawyers have latched onto claims about cancer risks, hoping that Monsanto, glyphosate’s manufacturer, will pay them to go away in generous legal settlements.

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The International Agency for Research on Cancer decision in 2015 to classify glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic” triggered the trial lawyers’ interest in the chemical and also prompted some nations and a number of local governments to ban the product.

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So, as the headlines about Roundup trickle out, don’t worry if you’ve used or want to use the weed killer again. These cases actually have little to nothing to do [with] the risk and everything to do [with] trial lawyers using junk science to cash in on other people’s suffering.

Read full, original article: GUEST COMMENTARY: Is your weed killer killing you?