OAKLAND, CA- According to Courthousenews.com, a judge in California declined to make a ruling on two plaintiffs’ request to bring their claim against Monsanto to court by early 2019. She first tentatively denied the request stating that the couple’s failing health was not so severe that they should be able to push their suit ahead […]
OAKLAND, CA- According to Courthousenews.com, a judge in California declined to make a ruling on two plaintiffs’ request to bring their claim against Monsanto to court by early 2019. She first tentatively denied the request stating that the couple’s failing health was not so severe that they should be able to push their suit ahead of hundreds of other people who have similar claims pending. However, Judge Ioana Petrou later postponed entering a decision after she heard additional facts about one of the plaintiff’s failing health.
The couple, Alva and Alberta Pilliod, were both diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma within four years of one another. Alva, 76, was diagnosed in 2011, and Alberta, 74 was diagnosed in 2015. The couple states in their lawsuit that they both used Roundup in their garden for decades. The couple argued that their health was failing and that unless their case was expedited, they might die before their case made it to trial. They requested that the trial be set in January or February of next year.
There are currently around 250 lawsuits that were filed against Monsanto and then consolidated before Judge Petrou. None of the cases have trial dates.
Judge Petrou was on the verge of denying the plaintiff’s motion because both patients are currently in remission. However, Alberta still takes chemotherapy medication. Alberta has two brain tumors, and has severe vertigo and nausea, recently had a seizure, and fell and suffered a head injury on another occasion. Ultimately, Alberta’s failing health and a case cited by the plaintiff’s attorney that counsels against waiting for a relapse to schedule a trial were enough to make Judge Petrou reconsider.
