This Melbourne gardener is set to take on big pharma in Australia’s first Roundup lawsuit

A man who spent his career using a popular weedkiller will take the manufacturer to court claiming their product caused his cancer.

Video: Can Australian farmers sue Monsanto, too?

A 54-year-old Melbourne gardener has launched Australia’s first lawsuit linking Monsanto’s weed killer Roundup to cancer.

Michael Ogalirolo claims he consistently used Roundup for more than 18years before he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2011, which he believes was caused by the weedkiller’s active component glyphosate.

His lawyer Tony Carbone said Mr Ogalirolo handled the glyphosate-based weedkiller two to three times a week as part of his landscaping job.

“He did this by diluting the products, spraying them on lawns and plants, and working in the vicinity of people that were using the Roundup products,” Mr Carbone told The Feed.

“There were no warnings that the products were unsafe.”

Mr Carbone said there is substantial evidence against Roundup’s manufacturer Monsanto, which will be used in the lawsuit, filed on Monday in the Supreme Court.

The safety of glyphosate-based weed killers have long been in question. In 2015, the World Health Organisation concluded that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans”

Although this report has been rejected by regulators globally, in January this year, Roundup 360 was banned in France due to safety concerns. Glyphosate is subject to a Victorian Government safety review, and several councils across Melbourne and Sydney are considering banning the product.

There have been three landmark US court rulings against Roundup’s manufacturer over cancer cases. Monsanto was acquired by Bayer in June last year.

Last month, Bayer, Monsanto’s parent company, was ordered to pay more than $US2 billion in damages to a Californian couple who developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after using the product for over 30 years.

In March, a jury found the glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup was a “substantial factor” in causing 70-year-old Edwin Hardeman to develop non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was awarded $US80 million.

Last year, Dewayne Johnson, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, was awarded $US289 million in damages, which was reduced to $US78 million on appeal, after a jury found that Monsanto had failed to adequately warn consumers of cancer risks posed by the herbicide.

Mr Carbone said that since the news broke of Australia’s first lawsuit against Roundup he has been contacted by at least five people with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who believe their illness has been caused by the chemical.

“There is potential for a class action,” he said.

“We should be worried about people who have had excessive exposure.”

Bayer have been consistent in their denial that glyphosate-based herbicides cause non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

In a statement to The Feed, the company said:

Bayer Australia is aware of media reports regarding a Statement of Claim about glyphosate but has not received a writ at this time. We have great sympathy for any individual with cancer, but the extensive body of science on glyphosate-based herbicides over four decades supports the conclusion that Roundup does not cause Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL). At the end of the day, whether you're in the court of law, regulatory agencies or court of public opinion, it's the science that should matter here. The extensive body of science over 40 years, including several recent human epidemiology studies, shows that glyphosate-based herbicides are not associated with NHL. Customers who know these products best continue to rely on them. Bayer stands behind these products and will vigorously defend them.

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