First published on the Associated Press by Sudhin Thanawala

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - El herbicida Roundup fue un factor sustancial en el cáncer de un hombre de California, determinó el martes un jurado en la primera fase de un juicio que, según los abogados, podría ayudar a determinar el destino de cientos de demandas similares.

El veredicto unánime del jurado de seis personas en un tribunal federal de San Francisco se produjo en una demanda presentada contra el fabricante de Roundup, el gigante de agronegocios Monsanto. Edwin Hardeman, 70, fue el segundo demandante en ir a juicio entre miles de personas en todo el país que afirman que el herbicida causa cáncer.

Monsanto dice que los estudios han establecido que el ingrediente activo de Roundup, el glifosato, es seguro.

Un jurado de San Francisco en agosto otorgó a otro hombre $ 289 millones después de determinar que Roundup causó su linfoma no Hodgkin. Un juez luego recortó el premio a $ 78 millones, y Monsanto apeló.

El juicio de Hardeman es ante un juez diferente y puede ser más significativo. El juez estadounidense Vince Chhabria está supervisando cientos de demandas de Roundup y ha considerado el caso de Hardeman y otros dos "juicios innovadores".

The outcome of such cases can help attorneys decide whether to keep fighting similar lawsuits or settle them. Legal experts said a jury verdict in favor of Hardeman and the other test plaintiffs would give their attorneys a strong bargaining position in any settlement talks for the remaining cases before Chhabria.

The judge had split Hardeman’s trial into two phases. Hardeman’s attorneys first had to convince jurors that using Roundup was a significant factor in his cancer before they could make arguments for damages.

The trial will now proceed to the second phase to determine whether the company is liable and if so, for how much.

Hardeman declined to comment outside court.

“This has been a long time coming for Mr. Hardeman,” said one of his attorneys, Jennifer Moore. “He’s very pleased he had his day in court, and we’re looking forward to phase two.”

Many government regulators have rejected a link between cancer and glyphosate. Monsanto has vehemently denied such a connection, saying hundreds of studies have established that the chemical is safe.

Bayer, which acquired Monsanto last year, said in a statement after the verdict that it continues to “believe firmly that the science confirms glyphosate-based herbicides do not cause cancer.”

“We are confident the evidence in phase two will show that Monsanto’s conduct has been appropriate and the company should not be liable for Mr. Hardeman’s cancer,” it said.

Monsanto developed glyphosate in the 1970s, and the weed killer is now sold in more than 160 countries and widely used in the U.S.

The herbicide came under increasing scrutiny after the France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the World Health Organization, classified it as a “probable human carcinogen” in 2015.

Lawsuits against Monsanto followed. The company has attacked the international research agency’s opinion as an outlier.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says glyphosate is safe for people when used in accordance with label directions.

Hardeman started using Roundup products to treat poison oak, overgrowth and weeds on his Sonoma County property in the 1980s and continued using them through 2012, according to his attorneys. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2015.