PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia jury has awarded a Montgomery County man tens of millions of dollars after finding that the popular weed killer Roundup was the cause of his blood cancer diagnosis.
William Melissen, 51, of Abington, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2020. A jury decided on Thursday that Monsanto, the parent company of Roundup, is to blame.
"The verdict was a resounding message by a Philadelphia jury to Monsanto that its product is dangerous," said Tom Kline, Melissen's attorney.
He said his client's decades-long use of Roundup gave him the cancer.
There are thousands of lawsuits nationwide and dozens in Philadelphia against Monsanto, accusing the company of knowingly distributing a health hazard.
The jury awarded Melissen $78 million.
Kline said this verdict condemns a "50-year history in the promotion of and marketing of a poisonous cocktail to not only Americans but to people around in the world."
Monsanto told KYW Newsradio it disagrees with the verdict and has enough scientific backing to appeal. The company pointed to an American Tort Reform Association ranking of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, which called it the "No. 1 judicial hellhole."
