The Monsanto Papers

December 15, 2020
The story of a cancer victim's search for justice against the multinational chemical conglomerate. In this follow-up to Whitewash: The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer, and the Corruption of Science (2017), which won the Rachel Carson Book Award, investigative journalist Gillam once again takes on Monsanto for its continuing distribution of Roundup, an herbicide whose active ingredient had been classified, in independent testing, as a carcinogen. The narrative follows Lee Johnson, a groundskeeper whose non-Hodgkin lymphoma was linked to his exposure to the herbicide. Gillam writes convincingly about Monsanto's shameful misdeeds. Examining the nature of mass tort cases and medical malpractice, the gathering of depositions and internal corporate records, jury selection and the trial, the author provides consistent insight into the legal process as well as the moves and countermoves of the lawyers involved. The corporation's deceptive intent is galling enough, but more shocking is the "cozy relationship between Monsanto and the EPA laid out so clearly in the employees' own words." In a careful, sometimes overly detailed text, the author builds a convincing case that Monsanto was more interested in protecting the reputation of its cash cow than heeding scientific evidence of its dangerous properties. Gillam is especially good at rendering the complex dynamics of the legal personalities, which adds a further humanizing dimension to Johnson's story. For their part, writes the author, Monsanto's lawyers acted with "arrogance," "hubris," and a "lack of professional courtesy," all in an effort to "wear down the will of the plaintiffs' legal team." Monsanto's assurances about the safety of its product gradually unraveled before the court, and the proceedings revealed secret strategies to alter their scientific records and a corrupt regulatory process that turned oversight into a laughable collusion. An authoritative takedown of a corporation that evidently cares little for public health.

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February 1, 2021
Journalist and research director Gillam centers this book on Lee Johnson, the first plaintiff to go to trial against Monsanto. Johnson worked as a groundskeeper before developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Lesions covered his skin, making everyday activities excruciating. Johnson tried to identify what may have caused his cancer and remembered an accident at work that left him drenched in pesticide. He reached out to the chemical's manufacturer, Monsanto, to see if he could get answers about links between pesticides and cancer, but no one returned his calls. A year later, Johnson connected with the Miller Firm, one of several law firms suing Monsanto for failing to warn consumers that the chemical glyphosate, used in its products Roundup and Ranger Pro, was a health hazard. With the verdict still in appeals as of August 2020, Gillam narrates an of-the-moment reckoning with a major corporation whose products have been marketed as safe since the 1970s. As an examination of both corporate malfeasance and legal maneuvering in torts cases, Gillam's book personifies the need for consumer protections and safety.

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