Lizzi’s Reviews > The Monsanto Papers: Deadly Secrets, Corporate Corruption, and One Man’s Search for Justice > Status Update

-Monsanto continued to target schools for sales after IARC classification.
-In closing statements, Monsanto lawyers focused on whether or not they caused Lee’s cancer; plaintiffs lawyers focused on Monsanto’s failure to give Lee a warning before his NHL became terminal, failure to do a long-term carcinogenicity test in 30 years, and the necessity of large punitive damage to prevent future harm to the public.

Monsanto lobbied with organizations and these groups were swaying public opinions as “independent” sources without disclosing direct funding ties with Monsanto. Unregulated capitalism creates deception.

-Both of Lee’s calls to Monsanto never got a call back. The second call happened days after IARC classification and Monsanto did not tell him about it.
-A worker at roundup manufacturing plant was diagnosed with NHL and contacted Monsanto occupational nurse, and Monsanto did not report the inquiry to EPA, which is required by federal law.

-Dr. Parry signed a “secrecy agreement” to not talk about his genotoxicity concerns about roundup to EPA.
-Monsanto lawyers argued plaintiff experts are motivated by money from signing on with the litigation team and not the actual science.

Learned in opening statement:
-Monsanto started preparing a plan to discredit IARC IN ADVANCE before the classification even came out.
-This specific cutaneous T-cell lymphoma is very rare in African men.
-Internal emails reveal Monsanto purposefully avoided doing a carcinogenicity study on roundup even though it’s protocol for companies to do so.

Holy shit didn’t expect the final destination situations at the worst timing right before the trial

-3rd-party litigation funding: hedge funds invest in mass tort litigation to cover cost and take percentage of winnings.
-Mass litigation is a good example of country ruled by class: plaintiffs hunt down victims (injuries/addiction from pharma companies, ppl who are already suffering physically, mentally and financially) and profit off BOTH the consumers and corporations. 3rd-party funding investors as well.

The judge approved to go forward with the case after Daubert. “…the question at this phase is not whether the plaintiff’s experts are right. The question is whether they have offered opinions that would be admissible at a jury trial”