On October 31, 2019, a Houston woman filed a complaint in the Lufkin Division of the Eastern District of Texas against Monsanto Co., alleging that its Roundup product contributed to her non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
The woman began using Roundup in 2000 for residential use, regularly spraying Roundup for weed prevention around her home, in the garden and yard, until late 2016. In November of 2017, the woman was diagnosed with stage IIIA small lymphocytic lymphoma-a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma-which was found in her bladder, lymph nodes and bone marrow. Despite chemotherapy treatments, the woman is still suffering from lymphoma in her bladder to this day. The woman maintains that the active chemical in Roundup-glyphosate-is a carcinogen, and Monsanto has known about this for decades but has gone as far as falsifying data and attacking legitimate studies to assure the public that Roundup was harmless. The complaint further that on two occasions the EPA found that laboratories hired by Monsanto to test the toxicity of its Roundup products for registration purposes committed fraud and in 1996, the New York Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Monsanto based on its false and misleading advertising of Roundup products.
The woman is seeking recovery alleging strict liability, breach of implied and express warranties, and negligence. In particular, the woman brought a strict liability claim for defective design, because Roundup products were manufactured, designed, and labeled in an unsafe, defective, and inherently dangerous manner dangerous for use by or exposure to the public. She alleges that at the time Roundup products left Monsanto’s control, there was a practical and safer alternative design that would have prevented the harm without substantially impairing the intended function of Monsanto’s herbicides. The woman also brought a strict liability action claim for a failure to warn, alleging that Monsanto has wrongfully concealed information concerning the dangerous nature of Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosate. Finally, the woman claims that Monsanto impliedly, as well as expressly by way of advertising and marketing, warranted to its consumers that its Roundup products were safe and fit for the use for which they were intended, meanwhile failing to disclose that Roundup has dangerous propensities when used as intended carries an increased risk of developing severe injuries and death.
The woman is seeking her actual damages, including past and future medical expenses, past and future pain and suffering, among others. She is further seeking to be awarded exemplary and punitive damages sufficient to punish and deter Monsanto and others from future fraudulent practices.
If you or someone you know has been injured by the use of a dangerous product, contact an attorney at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling (713) 222-7211 or toll free at 713-222-7211.