Thompson Coburn Defends Monsanto in Upholding Trial Win

Thompson Coburn's Booker Shaw helped Monsanto uphold a trial victory in a lawsuit that alleged the company’s Roundup product caused non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, affirmed the verdict in Monsanto’s favor, finding that plaintiff Stacey Moore's expert, a clinical oncologist, was not qualified to determine the cause of his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

In 2020, Moore filed suit against Monsanto alleging his exposure to Roundup caused his cancer. Moore also alleged the company concealed the risks of Roundup exposure from the public. Before and during the trial, he attempted to introduce evidence from an expert referred to in the opinion as A.S. However, the appellate panel stated that Moore’s attempt to present the evidence only demonstrated that A.S. was overstepping his expertise by opining on causation, according to a report in Law360.

During the trial, Moore also sought to remove a juror for cause due to his law firm’s prior business relationship with Monsanto. Monsanto noted that work was decades in the past, and the juror affirmed he could be impartial.

Bayer, which owns Monsanto, said in a statement that the company is pleased with the verdict, which it said was "grounded in the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and the consensus of regulatory bodies and their scientific assessments worldwide supporting the safety of Roundup."