Bayer logo overlapping the Monsanto logo

We Owe It to This Brave, Determined Victim.

June 20, 2018 | Ronnie Cummins

Organic Consumers Association

Early this week, a California court appointed the judge who will oversee the trial of DeWayne Johnson v. Monsanto Company.

DeWayne “Lee” Johnson was a school groundskeeper, a job that required him to use Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller on school properties.

The 46-year-old father of two is now terminally ill, with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). And he’s suing Monsanto.

Johnson is just one of thousands of NHL sufferers suing Monsanto for not only causing their cancer, but for knowingly exposing them to risk by concealing Monsanto’s own internal evidence linking Roundup to NHL and other health problems.

Johnson is the first to go to trial, because California expedites trials for the terminally ill.

Johnson could have chosen to live out the rest of his life in peace. Instead, he chose to use the time he has left to face down one of the most powerful companies in the world.

Johnson is committed to holding Monsanto accountable.

We owe it to him to be just as unwavering in our determination to hold Monsanto accountable.

Please help us fund more litigation, more investigative journalism, and the most comprehensive study ever undertaken on Roundup weedkiller’s devastating impact on human health. Click here to donate online or for details on how to donate by phone or mail.

OCA sued Monsanto last year for its deceitful labeling on Roundup sold to consumers in stores like Costco and Home Depot. Monsanto tried to get the case dismissed, and failed. We’re now working with our attorneys to build a bullet-proof case.

We’ve also committed at least $25,000 to help fund the largest, most comprehensive global study ever undertaken of Roundup and glyphosate. Depending on the outcome, this could be the study that leads to a global ban on Roundup and all glyphosate-based herbicides.

And we’re the largest financial supporter of U.S. Right to Know, a consumer watchdog organization whose investigations have exposed widespread corruption within the Monsanto organization.

I would have a hard time choosing which of these projects we would drop, if we couldn’t continue to fund them all. Because all of this work is more critical now than ever.

Let me explain.

Last week Bayer, the new owner of Monsanto, announced that the newly merged poison-peddling behemoth of a company will drop the Monsanto name.

The obvious reason? The name Monsanto is synonymous with evil.

But could the name change also be part of a more sinister strategy? To avoid liability for Monsanto’s crimes? Will Bayer try to argue that because “Monsanto” no longer exists, its victims no longer exist, either?

We owe it to Johnson and the millions of Monsanto victims around the world, including babies born with birth defects, to keep this fight alive.

Monsanto can run. But as long as we don’t give up, it can’t hide.

We are all victims. But together, we will all become “prevailers.”

Please help us fund more litigation, more investigative journalism, and the most comprehensive study ever undertaken on Roundup weedkiller’s devastating impact on human health. Click here to donate online or for details on how to donate by phone or mail.

P.S. We rely on individual donors like you for nearly 80% of our total budget. We simply can’t do this work without you. Please consider a generous donation today, details here.