The story of a couple who received $ 2 billion in compensation from a global pharmaceutical company because they had cancer

Health and Medical

A jury in California on Monday awarded more than $ 2 billion to a couple who claimed they had cancer because of a pesticide "Roundup" Affiliate of "Bayer" Global, in the largest judgment of the jury in the United States so far against the company in litigation over the chemical.

Ms. Alberta Belloud

The couple, Alpha Belloud and his wife, Alberta Bellud, raised the case in 2017 after being diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and 2015, respectively, both of which were currently treated, but their case was accelerated due to the risk of relapse and short life expectancy.

The penalty for large punitive damages is likely to be reduced because of the US Supreme Court's decision to reduce the proportion of punitive damages to 9: 1. The jury awarded a total of $ 2 billion in punitive damages.

This was the third consecutive ruling by the US jury against the company in litigation over the chemical, which Bayer acquired as part of Monsanto's $ 63 billion acquisition last year. Both other California jurors, one in state court and one in California, Federal Court.

Couple with cancer

A jury at the Supreme Court of Alameda County in Auckland said on Monday the company was responsible for lymphoma.

$ 18 million in compensation and $ 1 billion in punitive damages to the injured person, Alpha Belloud, $ 37 million in compensation and $ 1 billion in punitive damages to his wife, Alberta Belloud.

The jury found that the product "Roundup" pesticide Has been poorly designed, that the company failed to warn about the risk of cancer and that the company acted negligently.

Germany's giant chemicals company faces more than 13,400 US lawsuits over the risk of cancer.

Bayer's spokesman said in a statement on Monday that he was disappointed with the verdict and would appeal the verdict, describing a spokesman for the jury decision as "excessive and unjustified."

The company said both Alpha Bellod and Alberta Belloud have a long history of diseases known to be major risk factors for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Bayer said dozens of years of studies conducted by the company and independent scientists have shown that the two types of "glyphosate" are "Roundup" Safe for human use.