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Last week, a federal jury ordered Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, to pay $80 million to a 70-year-old man with cancer who had used it for three decades on his 56 acres in Sonoma County, Calif. The jury found that Roundup was a “substantial factor” in his illness.

I wonder if the jury was aloud to consider the fact that the older a person is the more likely they are to have cancer.

A simple statistical fact. If you live long enough, you will have cancer.

In his seventy years I am sure that the man had been exposed to a huge number of carcinogens. Saying that one or another was a “substantial factor” in his illness is impossible.

I would never be chosen to be on such a jury. I am too rational.

In his seventy years I am sure that the man had been exposed to a huge number of carcinogens. Saying that one or another was a “substantial factor” in his illness is impossible..

The subject in this thread is quite interesting to me on many levels, and I could write a blue ton about herbicides in general. I pretty accurately recall in the huge case last year...I believe I saw a photo of a section of the court documents posted on TV...that there was ANOTHER herbicide besides Roundup named in the court documents. Surprisingly (to me) is that I did not recognize the brand name of the herbicide and thus its commercial name active ingredient.

I meant to look that up when I encountered this revelation. I did not. However it just goes to show you that there's ALWAYS something else to stories. And how old was this first plaintiff? How long did he use this stuff? Was it really the Roundup (glyphosate) or the other named product? Did this guy follow directions and precautions? Did he use tobacco and/or drink (both of which I feel will exacerbate or trigger potential health problems if used to excess for prolonged periods.)

Someone mentioned "Pedro" letting this stuff slosh around in the back of his truck. Well, I not sure but I would pretty much guarantee something along this line happened to a small college campus in Ohio some years ago. This college prided itself on how well the grounds were kept, but apparently some turf boobs applied a broad spectrum killer to pretty much the whole campus and really wiped out everything. At the time I said someone didn't or more likely can't read a label. I'll leave it at that.

I'm in favor of herbicides and of course, their proper use. However, these herbicide manufacturers are not blameless as their marketing and display techniques almost actively encourage the overuse and misuse of the products. I've got a real bad jones against them on how they label their stuff.

I could write an opus about this but will stop for now.