Former Manitoba man sues Bayer for causing his cancer

A Calgary man who lived on a farm in Carman, Man., as a child has filed a lawsuit saying chemicals he was exposed to resulted in a cancer diagnosis.

The plaintiffs in the case are Kevin Giesbrecht and his common-law spouse, Jennifer McAlpine, who now live in Calgary. According to court documents, Giesbrecht lived on the family farm in Carman from 2002 to 2012 and visited the farm frequently in subsequent years.

The lawsuit, filed by lawyers Winnipeg lawyers Aaron Challis and Amber Harms of Fillmore Rilley LLP, lists Monsanto Canada Inc., Bayer Cropscience Inc., Bayer Inc., Bayer Ag, Corteva Agriscience Canada Company, ABC Corp., and Corteva Agriscience as defendants.

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Between 2008 and 2022, Giesbrecht’s father had leased a portion of his land for field trials, first to Corteva Agriscience Canada (doing business under Hyland Seeds) in 2008, then to Monsanto (now Bayer) in 2013 and 2020 for field trials.

In December 2023, Giesbrecht was diagnosed with chronic stage 4 follicular non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

The statement of claim argues that Giesbrecht, who lived within 100 metres of the leased fields, was exposed to chemicals, most notably glyphosate, while on the farm, which ultimately led to his cancer diagnosis.

The statement of claim says that Giesbrecht wasn’t properly informed of the risks of being exposed to those chemicals and alleges that Monsanto was aware that glyphosate was a carcinogen but covered it up.

According to Health Canada, if used according to the label, glyphosate is safe to use.

“No pesticide regulatory authority in the world currently considers glyphosate to be a cancer risk to humans at the levels at which humans are currently exposed,” the organization said in a 2019 statement.

Nevertheless, shortly after Bayer bought out Monsanto, the company paid out $9.6 billion, without admission of liability, to settle outstanding glyphosate litigation claims in the United States.

– Don Norman is a reporter for the Manitoba Co-operator.