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Mitigating the Incidence and Severity of Injuries and Other Harms

John D. Carson v. Monsanto Company

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Overview

John D. Carson v. Monsanto Company (U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Cir., July 12, 2022): The court found that a state “failure to warn” claim against Monsanto for chemicals in its Roundup weedkiller was not preempted by federal regulation of Roundup under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) or the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) actions implementing FIFRA. A man who had used Roundup for 30 years and was diagnosed with cancer filed state tort law claims against Monsanto, claiming the product’s main ingredient, glyphosate, caused his cancer. The failure to warn claim alleges that Monsanto did not adequately warn customers about the risks of using Roundup. While EPA, through FIFRA, requires pesticides like Roundup to be registered and meet certain labeling requirements, EPA’s registration process is not formal enough to carry the force of law and preempt a state action. Finally, while FIFRA is a federal statute which clearly carries the force of law, a Georgia “failure to warn” claim would simply enforce FIFRA provisions requiring product warnings, so the claim is not preempted. Read the full decision here..

View all cases in the Judicial Trends in Public Health – August 15, 2022.

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