*Some would say Dewayne Johnson is a lucky man because he was just awarded $289 million in damages by a jury that determined that Monsanto’s weed killer, Roundup, caused his cancer. However, Johnson’s cancer is TERMINAL, so all that money is, unfortunately and sadly, not going to do him much good at this point.
The weed killer was used regularly by Johnson when he worked as a groundskeeper for the San Francisco Bay Area school district.
Monsanto, of course, is vigorously denying the claims their product causes cancer and said they plan to appeal the verdict, reports People.
In one instance, the product left the father of two soaked after a hose broke in 2012, according to CNN.
He claimed he contacted the company after he developed a rash but was never told it could cause cancer, the AP reported.
Two years later, in 2014 at the age of 42, Johnson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma — a form of cancer that begins when cells in the body grow out of control. Cells in virtually any part of the body can become cancerous and spread to other areas, according to the American Cancer Society.
About 80 percent of Johnson’s body is now covered in lesions, CNN reported.
The report goes on the say that Monsanto’s attorney, George Lombardi, argued in court that non-Hodgkins lymphoma develops over the course of years meaning Johnson’s cancer started before he began working as a groundskeeper.
“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 obtained by The Guardian.
The verdict against the corporation gave the “message to Monsanto that its years of deception regarding Roundup is over and that they should put consumer safety first over profits.”
Meanwhile, Monsanto is facing about 2,000 other lawsuits from cancer patients, their families or their estates who claim their products also gave them cancer.
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