Fallout from US$2b ruling against Monsanto

THE embattled German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company, Bayer, has adopted a strategy of "circling the wagons" to discredit the scientists who have been warning that the mass-selling weed killer, Roundup, manufactured by its subsidiary, Monsanto, can cause cancer.

Based on the scientists' warnings and emotion-filled testimonies of the victims, a San Francisco jury ordered Monsanto to pay more than US$2 billion in damages to a married couple, Alva and Alberta Pilliod, of Livermore, California on May 13, ruling that their cancer was caused by Roundup.

Outraged American consumers recall that Monsanto has described Roundup as "safe as table salt" and even "safe enough to drink".