(Reuters) -Bayer was ordered on Friday to pay $2.25 billion to a Pennsylvania man who said he developed cancer from exposure to the company’s Roundup weedkiller, the man’s attorneys said.

A jury in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas found that John McKivision’s non-Hodgkins lymphoma was the result of using Roundup for yard work at his house for a period of several years. The verdict includes $250 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages.

“The jury’s punitive damages award sends a clear message that this multi-national corporation needs top to bottom change,” Tom Kline and Jason Itkin, McKivision’s attorneys, said in a joint statement.

  • rdyoung@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    It was probably easier to prove this single one rather than finding enough people for a class action.

    • Iceblade@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Yeah, but it still shouldn’t go to a single person. Better pay it as a fine to the state or distribute it to charities. Or, better yet pit the money into creating a foundation to help cancer victims.

      Somewhere above the 10-100m$ range it loses any sort of compensatory purpose, both you and your eternal decendants could live off of just interest at that point and buy essentially anything.

      • rdyoung@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        No one ever actually gets paid out the full sum like this. I don’t disagree that there are things that could and maybe should be done with this kind of cash but in cases like this its not always easy to prove a causal link between whatever chemicals and whatever illness. Regardless of what is done with the money this still sets a precedent and others will have an easier time suing for damages.