First published on the Associated Press by Sudhin Thanawala

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Roundup weed killer was a substantial factor in a California man’s cancer, a jury determined Tuesday in the first phase of a trial that attorneys said could help determine the fate of hundreds of similar lawsuits.

The unanimous verdict by the six-person jury in federal court in San Francisco came in a lawsuit filed against Roundup’s manufacturer, agribusiness giant Monsanto. Edwin Hardeman, 70, was the second plaintiff to go to trial out of thousands around the country who claim the weed killer causes cancer.

Monsanto says studies have established that Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate, is safe.

A San Francisco jury in August awarded another man $289 million after determining Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A judge later slashed the award to $78 million, and Monsanto has appealed.

Hardeman’s trial is before a different judge and may be more significant. U.S. Judge Vince Chhabria is overseeing hundreds of Roundup lawsuits and has deemed Hardeman’s case and two others “bellwether trials.”

March 8, 2019 – Oakland, California - - The trial of Pilliod v. Monsanto Company (now Bayer) begins with jury selection on Monday, March 25, 2019, in Superior Court of California for the County of Alameda before Judge Winifred Smith. Attorneys for the plaintiffs anticipate the trial will last about a month.

Pilliod v. Monsanto is the first case in the California Roundup Judicial Council Coordination Proceedings (JCCP) and the third Roundup cancer case to proceed to trial.

More than 250 Roundup cancer cases are consolidated before Judge Smith as part of the California Roundup JCCP. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.