In Oakland, California, Monsanto has been ordered to pay its highest damages yet in the third lawsuit over the popular weed killer Roundup. A jury has ordered Monsanto, which is owned by German pharmaceutical giant Bayer, to pay more than $2 billion in punitive damages to Alva and Alberta Pilliod—a couple who were both diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer after using Roundup on their properties for over 30 years. The main ingredient in the herbicide is glyphosate and is said to cause the cancer. Attorneys for the plaintiffs estimate that there are tens of thousands of similar cases against Roundup pending in courts around the country. This is attorney Brent Wisner speaking after the verdict was announced.

Brent Wisner: “Monsanto keeps denying that it causes cancer. And these two fine people here are casualties of that deception. This is going to continue, until Monsanto, and now Bayer, takes responsibility for its product. People are dying. People are getting sick. And they have no idea that it’s being caused by Roundup.”

Earlier this month, the EPA said that glyphosate is not carcinogenic. However, other scientific studies and the World Health Organization have found that human exposure can in fact lead to cancer.