Process
Status Items Output None Questions None Claims None Highlights Done See section below
Document Notes
Just more example of how companies get away with shit, hide the truth, create their own “facts” that cater to their agenda, and buy their way in politics and lobbies. The Texas two step thing is especially disgusting.
Highlights
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Glyphosate is now the most commonly used pesticide in the country, with an $10 billion global market.
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like Agent Orange, Monsanto has for many years publicly denied the associated risks — even though the company’s internal documents show it had reason to believe glyphosate is dangerous since at least 1983.
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Monsanto, now owned by Bayer, previously attempted to manipulate the scientific peer-review process. He documented the company’s efforts using internal emails released during a lawsuit, showing Monsanto used ghostwriters and waged campaigns to influence editorial decisions at academic journals, with the apparent goal of “manipulat[ing] the regulatory process so that it could continue selling a product that the firm’s own research indicated might be dangerous.”
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both the public and regulators tend to trust peer-reviewed studies, and distrust company-sponsored research. That’s why in one email, a Monsanto employee explicitly says the goal of keeping people from the company listed as authors is “to help enhance credibility.” Other emails show selective interpretations of toxicity results, and more concern over preventing follow-up studies than public safety.
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Part of the problem, Glenna says, is that regulators have to rely on industries to release toxicology information because it’s considered proprietary information. “[It’s] intellectual property,” he says, “so university or publicly funded scientists simply don’t have the ability to do the research.”
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revolving door between the agency and the industry it regulates.
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This industry influence within the agency is exacerbated by the fact that about 40 percent of the funding for the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention comes from registration fees — paid by the companies themselves.
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the biotech giant has been lobbying Congress to restrict the company’s liability for lawsuits over glyphosate exposure, including working to draft language on the matter in the upcoming farm bill.
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The company’s political action committee has also contributed to both Johnson and Costa’s campaigns for several election cycles.
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It’s now considering whether to use a strategy called the Texas two-step. In this legal maneuver, a company splits in two, with one half keeping the assets and the other the liabilities. The latter then files for bankruptcy, forcing people seeking compensation into bankruptcy court, which often results in delayed or lower settlements.