There’s a high-stakes trial unfolding in a San Francisco federal court over whether Monsanto’s glyphosate-based weed killer “Roundup” caused plaintiff’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Edward Hardeman claims Roundup, which he used to clear poison oak from his property over some 26 years, caused his cancer. Monsanto is now owned by Bayer AG.

A prior verdict in California state court for a different claimant awarded $39 million in compensatory damages and $250 million for punitive damages. The state trial judge upheld the compensatory award but slashed punitive damages down to a one-to-one ratio. Thus, the judgment totaled some $78.6 million. In the wake of that result, thousands of cases have been filed attacking the safety of glyphosate-based herbicides. See “Judge Upholds Bayer/Monsanto Roundup Cancer Liability But Slashes Award.”