This article was co-authored by Kathryn M. Forgie, Partner, Emily T. Acosta, Senior Counsel and MacKenzie Mazza, Paralegal. 

The Wagstaff Law Firm has fought for nearly a decade to end Roundup use in the United States (and worldwide) and to ensure that victims' and their families are treated with dignity, their suffering is acknowledged, and that they and their families are fairly compensated for their injuries, which are the direct result of the carelessness of Bayer and Monsanto, who remain the largest producers and sellers of glyphosate-based products, like Roundup.

Yet, to understand the devastating impact that Roundup use has had on so many families, you can't simply list their names, you have to understand their stories. Let's take a recent WLF Client; we'll call her Lily. Lily's story is powerful, and tragically, it's not unique.

Lily was in her twenties, newly married, and full of hope when she and her husband bought a beautiful piece of land to build their life together. She poured her energy into transforming the property - pulling weeds, cultivating gardens, and creating a safe, open space where her children could play and grow. For over a decade, she used Roundup regularly, faithfully applying it often during the Summers for 16 years, all the while believing Roundup was a safe and effective product for killing weeds.

However, one day, Lily collapsed in her yard. She was only 35 years old. What could be wrong? She was rushed to the hospital where she received life-altering news: she had Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (“DLBCL”), an aggressive form of blood cancer. The tumor the size of a softball was located just behind her heart. She had no family history or cancer or genetic predisposition; this diagnosis came without warning and with devastating consequences.

The battle that followed was grueling. Lily underwent an exhausting and invasive treatment regimen, including chemotherapy, radiation, and endless doctor visits - all while continuing to care for her young children and juggle life's demands. She endured not only physical pain, but the emotional toll of mounting medical bills, lost dreams, and severe fear and anxiety about the future. Through it all, Lily persevered. Finally, the doctors told her she was in remission and that they could no longer detect cancer cells.

By this time, the damage to her body was already done. Lily's particularly aggressive life-saving treatment left her bones weak and brittle. Since her cancer diagnosis, she's already had three joint replacement surgeries and doctors anticipate she will need more in the future. Unfortunately, chronic pain, limited mobility, and the looming threat of relapse are daily realities. Her life looks astronomically different now.

Beyond the physical toll, there is another wound: betrayal. Lily followed the instructions on the Roundup bottle and nothing on the label told her she needed to take safety precautions. She trusted that a product widely sold and marketed as safe would not harm her; she trusted Monsanto and Bayer to be true to their word when they said Roundup was safe. In reality, Monsanto and Bayer worked for decades to actively conceal critical safety information that could have avoided Lily's injuries entirely.

Monsanto and Bayer failed to disclose that just 13 days of Roundup exposure over a lifetime could increase the risk of developing cancers like Lily's by more than 200%. The companies didn't warn that some of the other ingredients in Roundup might be even more toxic than glyphosate itself. Even as research mounted and risks became clearer, Monsanto and Bayer refused to act and continued to deceive their costumers while profiting from their pain and suffering.

We fought to help get Lily what she was never given: the truth, accountability, and justice. Her experience isn't a matter of chance. It is the foreseeable, and avoidable, result of a corporation prioritizing profit over people.

At Wagstaff Law Firm, we don't just represent clients, we fight for them. We blend aggressive legal strategy with deep compassion to hold companies like Monsanto accountable. Lily's case isn't about a chemical. It's about a choice - Monsanto's choice to mislead the public and people like Lily, and our choice as a law firm to stand up for victims and their families.