Latest Roundup Lawsuit Blames Hairy Cell Leukemia Diagnosis on Weed Killer Exposure

The majority of Roundup cancer lawsuits currently pending against Bayer and Monsanto involve plaintiffs who allege that Roundup exposure caused them to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. What many people don’t realize is that non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) isn’t just one disease. It is the name used to describe a group of blood cancers that originate in the lymphocytes, which are part of the immune system. In this latest Roundup lawsuit, plaintiff Gregory Canzoni alleges that his 2011 diagnosis of hairy cell leukemia, a rare sub-type of NHL, occurred after he was exposed to glyphosate and polyethoxylate tallow amine (POEA), a surfactant used in weed killers to increase the efficacy of their active ingredients. If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with cancer following exposure to glyphosate or Roundup, contact an experienced Roundup cancer lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your legal options.

Roundup Lawsuits Continue to Mount

Bayer and its Monsanto subsidiary currently face upwards of 75,000 lawsuits brought on behalf of individuals nationwide who claim that they developed cancer after being exposed to Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate. Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide used to kill broadleaf plants and grasses, and the chemical works by inhibiting an enzyme that plants need to survive. Although Monsanto has claimed for decades that Roundup only affects plants, research suggests that glyphosate may pose a serious risk to human health. In fact, in one study published last year in the journal Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation Research, researchers from the University of Washington found that glyphosate increases the risk of cancer in those exposed to the weed killer by 41%. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has even classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Still, Bayer and Monsanto claim that the product poses no health risk for users.

Roundup Linked to Cancer Diagnoses

Despite Bayer and Monsanto’s claims, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that people exposed to glyphosate have higher rates of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other cancers. Hairy cell leukemia is a rare type of cancer only diagnosed in about 700 people in the United States every year. Despite its name, hairy cell leukemia is sometimes considered to be a type of B-cell lymphoma. B-cell lymphomas are a type of lymphoma that affect B lymphocytes and these cancers make up about 85% of all non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cases in the United States. Hairy cell leukemia is a slow-growing cancer that develops from B lymphocytes and can affect the blood. The cancer can develop when a lymphocyte grows out of control and as the cancer spreads, the body produces fewer white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets. According to Gregory Canzoni’s lawsuit, filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, he was diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia in September 2011, following exposure to glyphosate.

Plaintiffs’ Cancer Diagnoses “Were Avoidable”

Canzoni’s lawsuit raises allegations similar to those presented by other plaintiffs in the ongoing Roundup litigation, namely that Monsanto concealed the health risks of its best-selling herbicide for years and deliberately avoided issuing warnings to consumers about the potential for Roundup exposure to cause cancer. “Plaintiffs maintain that Roundup and/or glyphosate is defective, dangerous to human health, unfit and unsuitable to be marketed and sold in commerce, and lacked proper warnings and directions as to the dangers associated with its use,” Canzoni’s Roundup lawsuit states. “Gregory Canzoni’s injuries, like other similarly situated victims across the country, were avoidable.”

Following significant losses in the first three Roundup cases to go to trial last year, Bayer now faces considerable pressure to negotiate a settlement and avoid additional Roundup trial dates, which are scheduled to take place throughout this year. However, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the U.S. judicial system has reportedly slowed Roundup settlement negotiations. This leaves the door open for hundreds, if not thousands, of additional Roundup lawsuits to be filed by individuals who have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other types of cancer allegedly caused by exposure to Monsanto’s popular weed killer.