Edition 50: round(ing)up all the problems with Monsanto

(This newsletter was sent to email subscribers on September 9, 2020.)

Happy Wednesday, muggles. One point for Brazil! The Brazilian Football Federation announced that the women’s and men’s team will now receive equal pay. Australia, Norway, and New Zealand are also working towards equal pay for the teams. Meanwhile in the U.S., the women’s national team filed a lawsuit for gender discrimination — though a judge dismissed that case. Here are a couple more stories that shouldn’t be overlooked.

HEALTH

The controversial story of Monsanto, WHO, and Black farmers

Thu Sep 3

The National Black Farmer Association filed a lawsuit to stop the sale of the pesticide “Roundup.”

In the lawsuit they claim…

• Black farmers are forced by the agriculture system to use Roundup and risk cancer
• Bayer (which bought Monsanto) fails to warn farmers of the risk of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup
• Black farmers disproportionately have limited access to the internet, and therefore information on Roundup, leading them to rely on local salespeople for what to buy

The controversial question: Is glyphosate carcinogenic?

It depends WHO you ask (see what I did there 😉).

In 2015, probably. The World Health Organization (WHO) said glyphosate was “probably carcinogenic to humans.” There are reports that the organization edited its findings because it was influenced by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). And as you probably have heard, since WHO said it might cause cancer, there have been thousands of lawsuits.

Then in 2017, maybe not. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the herbicide is actually “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans.”

Obviously in 2018, it’s safe. Bayer, who acquired Monsanto, said glyphosate is safe. But then later in 2018, a judge ordered Monsanto to pay a former school groundskeeper who was diagnosed with terminal non-Hodgkin lymphoma $289 million in damages — although it ended up being about $78 million after an appeal.

In 2019, it’s about exposure levels. Researchers looked at all published studies and concluded that people with high exposure to the herbicide had a greater risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma. But, the researchers noted they were only able to use the limited data that’s been published on Roundup.

SOURCES: The Counter, Reuters, St.Louis Post-Dispatch, CNN

MONEY

The government overpaid hundreds of millions for ventilators

Tues Sep 1

A ProPublica investigation caused the House to investigate a $647 million ventilator deal and now, the deal is off. The deal, which was to acquire Philips ventilators, was negotiated by the president’s trade adviser Peter Navarro.

What did the investigation reveal?

• The U.S. overpaid the Dutch company by as much as $500 million
• The Trump Administration paid the highest price of any American buyers for the ventilators
• There was no evidence Navarro and his team tried to negotiate price
• Philips delivered 12,300 of the 43,000 ventilators

The White House has now cancelled the contract, so it’s unclear how much will actually be paid. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will now be auditing the five largest ventilator contracts.

SOURCES: ProPublica

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That’s all for today. Have a magical week.✨