Common weed killer caused KC-area man’s cancer, couple alleges in lawsuit
A Missouri couple has filed a civil lawsuit claiming that long-term exposure to a widely-used weed killer, Roundup, caused the husband to develop cancer.
Donald Sikes Jr. and his wife, Rena Sikes, allege that Donald’s use of Roundup from 2004 to 2012 at their Platte County home led to his 2012 diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The suit claims Monsanto, the St. Louis based company that developed Roundup, failed to warn users about the product’s carcinogenic risks and falsely marketed Roundup as safe for decades.
The Sikes filed the lawsuit in Platte County Circuit Court Wednesday. Attorneys in the suit point to the presence of glyphosate—Roundup’s main ingredient—and other allegedly toxic additives such as polyethoxylated tallow amine, or POEA, and formaldehyde, which they say are linked to cancer.
The case also cites a 2015 report from the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, which classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
“Monsanto used its position of trust as the manufacturer and/or distributor of Roundup to increase sales of its products at the expense of informing (Sikes) that use of or exposure to Roundup carries the risk of serious illness, such as Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphona,” the suit reads.
The lawsuit joins a growing wave of legal action against Monsanto, now owned by Bayer AG, over allegations that Roundup causes cancer.
In 2018, a California jury awarded $289 million to Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, a groundskeeper who claimed Roundup caused his terminal cancer. Although the award was later reduced, the verdict was upheld on appeal.
Since then, Bayer has faced over 100,000 lawsuits and agreed to pay more than $10 billion in settlements while continuing to deny that glyphosate poses a cancer risk when used as directed.
In their 80-page lawsuit, Donald and Rena Sikes renew claims accusing Monsanto of fraud by manipulating research, ghostwriting safety studies, and colluding with regulators to downplay risks associated with Roundup.
In the suit, Donald and Rena Sikes seek damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional distress and loss of consortium, among others.
The suit says after Donald Sikes became ill, he was unable to “perform the necessary duties as a spouse and the work and service usually performed in the care, maintenance and management of a family home.”
“Rena Sikes has suffered, and for a long period of time will continue to suffer, loss of consortium... loss of services, marital relations, society, comfort, companionship, love and affection of said spouse, and has suffered severe mental and emotional distress and general nervousness,” the suit reads.
The Sikes are demanding a jury trial in the case, according to the petition filed in court this week. A hearing is tentatively set for 9 a.m. Aug. 15 in Division 2 of Platte County Circuit Court.
