First published on the Associated Press by Sudhin Thanawala

サンフランシスコ（AP）—ラウンドアップ除草剤は、カリフォルニアの男性癌の重要な要因でした。裁判官は、裁判の第一段階で火曜日に決定し、弁護士は何百もの同様の訴訟の運命を決定するのに役立つと述べました。

サンフランシスコの連邦裁判所での6人のju審員による満場一致の判決は、ラウンドアップの製造業者であるアグリビジネスの巨人モンサント対して提起された訴訟で提起されました。エドウィン・ハーデマン（70）は、除草剤が癌の原因であると主張する全国の何千人もの裁判のうち、裁判に行く2番目の原告でした。

モンサントは、研究により、ラウンドアップの有効成分であるグリホサートが安全であることが確立されたと述べています。

8月のサンフランシスコのju審員は、Roundupが非ホジキンリンパ腫を引き起こしたと判断した後、別の男性に$ 289百万ドルを授与しました。裁判官は後にこの賞を100万ドルに削減し、モンサントは控訴しました。

ハーデマンの裁判は別の裁判官の前であり、より重要な場合があります。ビンス・チャブリア判事は何百ものラウンドアップ訴訟を監督しており、ハーデマンの事件と他の2人の事件を「先導的な裁判」とみなした。

The outcome of such cases can help attorneys decide whether to keep fighting similar lawsuits or settle them. Legal experts said a jury verdict in favor of Hardeman and the other test plaintiffs would give their attorneys a strong bargaining position in any settlement talks for the remaining cases before Chhabria.

The judge had split Hardeman’s trial into two phases. Hardeman’s attorneys first had to convince jurors that using Roundup was a significant factor in his cancer before they could make arguments for damages.

The trial will now proceed to the second phase to determine whether the company is liable and if so, for how much.

Hardeman declined to comment outside court.

“This has been a long time coming for Mr. Hardeman,” said one of his attorneys, Jennifer Moore. “He’s very pleased he had his day in court, and we’re looking forward to phase two.”

Many government regulators have rejected a link between cancer and glyphosate. Monsanto has vehemently denied such a connection, saying hundreds of studies have established that the chemical is safe.

Bayer, which acquired Monsanto last year, said in a statement after the verdict that it continues to “believe firmly that the science confirms glyphosate-based herbicides do not cause cancer.”

“We are confident the evidence in phase two will show that Monsanto’s conduct has been appropriate and the company should not be liable for Mr. Hardeman’s cancer,” it said.

Monsanto developed glyphosate in the 1970s, and the weed killer is now sold in more than 160 countries and widely used in the U.S.

The herbicide came under increasing scrutiny after the France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the World Health Organization, classified it as a “probable human carcinogen” in 2015.

Lawsuits against Monsanto followed. The company has attacked the international research agency’s opinion as an outlier.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says glyphosate is safe for people when used in accordance with label directions.

Hardeman started using Roundup products to treat poison oak, overgrowth and weeds on his Sonoma County property in the 1980s and continued using them through 2012, according to his attorneys. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2015.