Plaintiff Seeks Expedited Handling of Monsanto’s Appeal as His Health Deteriorates

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Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, the first plaintiff to take Monsanto to trial alleging the company’s glyphosate-based herbicides cause cancer, is scheduled for surgery today to remove a new cancerous growth on one of his arms.

Johnson’s health has been deteriorating since the trial’s conclusion in August and an interruption in treatment due to a temporary lapse in insurance coverage. He has not received any funds from the litigation due to the appeals Monsanto instigated after Johnson court victory. Monsanto is appealing the verdict of $78 million, which was reduced by the trial judge from the jury’s award of $289 million.

Johnson filed notice with the court in October that he would accept the reduced award. But because Monsanto has appealed, Johnson’s attorneys have also filed an appeal, seeking to reinstate the jury award.

The California State Court of Appeals, 1st Appellate District, case number is  A155940.

Johnson’s attorneys are seeking expedited handling of the appeal and say they hope to have briefings completed by April.

“There is… a strong likelihood that Mr. Johnson is going to die in 2019,” the plaintiff’s motion states.

Johnson, who plans to restart immunotherapy after his surgery, is not necessarily in agreement.

“I hate to think about dying,” he said  in an interview published in Time Magazine. “Even when I feel like I’m dying, I just make myself move past it. I feel like you can’t give in to it, the diagnosis, the disease, because then you really are dead. I don’t mess around with the death cloud, the dark thoughts, the fears. I’m planning for a good life.”

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