I am writing this article for Hawaiʻi families that have used the herbicide Roundup for years, as well as state workers and landscape contractors who have sprayed Roundup for years in Hawaiʻi. Particularly I want to help those Hawaiʻi residents who have been diagnosed with non Hodgkins lymphoma, understand their health and their legal rights.

Three separate juries have concluded that Roundup causes cancer. And the juries each seems to have been angered by the cover-up that they apparently found that the manufacturer has carried out for years as it reaped huge profits from Roundup sales.

In August 2018 a San Francisco jury found that Roundup caused cancer and levied a $289 million verdict (reduced by the Judge to $78 million) against Monsanto. Then in March 2019, a San Francisco jury hit Monsanto with an $80 million verdict in the courtroom of Federal District Judge Vince Chhabria. Then a jury punished Monsanto with a $2 Billion verdict for a husband and wife who both contracted cancer.

Roundup herbicide has been around for a long time. How many Hawaiʻi homes have a container of Roundup in the garage? How many state or county workers have sprayed Roundup as part of their jobs? How many Hawaiʻi keiki have been exposed around their home or school? Workers at landscaping companies may have the most exposure.

Scientists can now explain how Roundup causes Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma which is a cancer:

Non–Hodgkin lymphoma (also known as non–Hodgkin’s lymphoma, NHL, or sometimes just lymphoma) is a cancer that starts in white blood cells called lymphocytes, which are part of the body’s immune system. Medscape

Roundup is a product made and marketed by huge chemical companies Monsanto and Bayer. They are a world leader in agriculture chemical supplies. Monsanto’s response to claims that Roundup causes cancer, and specifically causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (aka lymphoma), was to create their own scientific papers to raise doubt. That is the same approach taken by the tobacco industry in the 1950’s over whether smoking tobacco products causes lung cancer. Since then, one dangerous product after another has seen the same approach used to create doubt and confuse the public.

Recently the subject has been submitted to citizen juries in lawsuits against Monsanto by people who have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma after lengthy exposure to Roundup. Three different sets of jurors got to hear all of the evidence for and against Roundup, and each ruled that Roundup caused the cancer. The New York Times reported recently about the latest defeat for Monsanto and Roundup:

$2 Billion Verdict Against Monsanto Is Third to Find Roundup Caused Cancer

A jury in Oakland, Calif., ordered Monsanto on Monday to pay a couple more than $2 billion in damages after finding that its Roundup weed killer caused their cancer — the third jury to conclude that the company failed to warn consumers of its flagship product’s dangers.

Thousands of additional lawsuits against Monsanto, which Bayer acquired last year, are queued up in state and federal courts.

The couple, Alva and Alberta Pilliod, used Roundup on their Northern California property for decades. In 2011, Mr. Pilliod, now 76, was given a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In 2015, his wife, who is 74, learned she had the same disease.

Over the years, many Hawaiʻi residents have most certainly contracted non-Hodgkins lymphoma from exposure to Roundup. Advertising lawyers are bombarding the media asking for people suspecting that their non-Hodgkins lymphoma was the result of Roundup use. Caution should be taken in signing up with a law firm without sitting down across the table with them and making sure your questions are all answered, and you feel that you can trust the lawyer. As past President of both the Hawaiʻi State Bar Association (HSBA) and a founder of the Hawaiʻi Association for Justice (HAJ), I can say with some authority that our state has many fine plaintiffs triallawyers who are capable of handling this type of case. Your Hawaiʻi lawyer, if necessary, will associate with the best mainland law firm to add specific expertise to the Hawaiʻi case. I the 1990’s that is what my firm did in representing Hawaiʻi flower growers whose farms were ruined by yet another chemical _ Benlate _ made by DuPont. Those cases resulted in payment of $44 million to Hawaiʻi farmers for ruined businesses. I worked with the Krupnick firm from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on those cases.

My wife, Valerie, died in 2008 from cancer. It wasn’t non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and it wasn’t related to Roundup, as far as I know. But I have a deep interest in cancer, and I have lived in the world of cancer treatments and the fear that all cancer patients go through. I was there. I lost Valerie …. there. If you are “there” we have something in common.

I’m a trial lawyer who handles dangerous product cases, like these Roundup cases. But I also care deeply about the health and treatment aspects of people who come to me seeking justice. I will listen. My office is in Kalihi. My cellphone is 808-753-0290.

AVVO 10 points: https://www.avvo.com/attorneys/96817-hi-wayne-parsons-1948782.html