Bottles of Roundup herbicide, a product of Monsanto. Findings come as regulators in several countries consider limiting the use of glyphosate-based products in farming.
Credit: Jeff Roberson/AP

A California jury determined Monday that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide directly caused the same type of cancer in an elderly couple who used the weed killer for decades. Bayer, the company that purchased Monsanto last year, was ordered to pay more than $2 billion in damages to the couple.

After using Roundup for nearly 30 years for residential landscaping, Alva Pilliod was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2011. His wife, Alberta Pilliod, was diagnosed with the same type of cancer in 2015. Both are currently in remission.

On Monday, the jury in the Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland awarded $1 billion in punitive damages and $18 million in compensatory damages to Alva Pilliod. His wife was awarded $1 billion in punitive damages and $37 million in compensatory damages.

“Unlike the first two Monsanto trials, where the judges severely limited the amount of plaintiffs’ evidence,” attorney Michael Miller […]