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This is the Los Angeles Times coverage from this morning with photo of Dewayne's reaction upon hearing the jury's verdict
California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the agency that listed the chemical as a probable carcinogen, is finalizing its regulation establishing a "safe" threshold under which glyphosate products would be exempt from the Proposition 65 warning provisions.
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The UK's Guardian coverage emphasized that this the first time in any trial in the world that Johnson was able to successfully present personal medical evidence against Monsanto:
J ohnson's lawyers argued over the course of a month-long trial in San Francisco that Monsanto had "fought science" for years and targeted academics who spoke up about possible health risks of the herbicide product. Johnson was the first person to take the agrochemical corporation to trial over allegations that the chemical sold under the brand Roundup causes cancer.In the extraordinary verdict, which Monsanto said it intends to appeal, the jury ruled that the company was responsible for "negligent failure" and knew or should have known that its product was "dangerous".
"We were finally able to show the jury the secret, internal Monsanto documents proving that Monsanto has known for decades that ... Roundup could cause cancer," Johnson's lawyer Brent Wisner said in a statement. The verdict, he added, sent a "message to Monsanto that its years of deception regarding Roundup is over and that they should put consumer safety first over profits."
"I've been going through a lot of pain," Johnson, who goes by the name Lee, testified weeks earlier. "It really takes everything out of you " I'm not getting any better."
He also testified that Monsanto should not have let him use the herbicide near schoolchildren, saying: "I never would've sprayed that product on school grounds or around people if I knew it would cause them harm."
Speaking in San Francisco on Friday, Johnson said that the jury's verdict is far bigger than his lawsuit. He said he hopes the case bolsters the thousands of similar lawsuits pending against the company and brings national attention to the issue.
The financial award included past and future economic losses and punitive damages.
Another Roundup cancer trial is scheduled to begin in the fall in St Louis, Missouri. According to Johnson's lawyers, Monsanto is facing more than 4,000 similar cases across the US.
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