one week after a California jury awarded
two billion dollars to a couple who
complained they got cancer from the weed
killer roundup a Georgia farmer who's
dying of cancer tells the news for
Jack's i-team he wants his day in court
before he dies from the disease Rickey
McComb has filed a lawsuit in 2017
against the maker of roundup Monsanto
whose parent company is now Baer blaming
his non-hodgkins lymphoma on this
popular weed killer news for Jack's
i-team investigator Tareq minors joining
us now with McCombs dying wish dark
Ricky McCombs told me that doctors have
given him 12 months to live and as
heartbreaking as that is it is something
that the 56 year old says he can accept
what he cannot accept however is not
knowing if his wife and two sons will be
taken care of when he's gone he says he
is sure that he got cancer from the key
ingredient in roundup working on his
nine acre farm not only have the past 20
years been a physical struggle for Ricky
McCombs it's been a long emotional
struggle as well after being diagnosed
with cancer in 1996 McCombs and his wife
bought this nine acre farm and scrubbed
in Georgia years earlier with hopes of
living off the land and helping to feed
the community 7 tomato plants and that's
about it
McCombs and his wife Lucy say the key
ingredient in the weed killer roundup
stole all their dreams in a long
drawn-out agonizing way roundup is like
a slow lifetime definitely because
that's what it does it takes your life
slowly little at a time
McCombs who used to weigh around 130
pounds is now down to just 95 and he
says the non-hodgkins lymphoma cancer he
has makes him feel nauseous and unable
to eat McComb says his spleen was the
size of a football when doctors chose to
remove it he says it all happened after
he used roundup to clear the weeds off
his farm mixing two to three hundred
gallon barrels at a time with this
industrial sprayer so after 93 spraying
at 94 spraying it and 96 is when I was
diagnosed there's no doubt in your mind
that there's no doubt that I was so
healthy even my doctor said whenever I
was first seeing him that I was the
healthiest person he ever seen with
cancer the main ingredient in roundup
glyphosate was placed on a list of
cancer-causing chemicals by the state of
California in 2017 and just last week on
May 14th a California couple won a
lawsuit against Monsanto the eighth
largest settlement in US history two
billion dollars there are more than
11,000 pending lawsuits against the
makers of roundup Monsanto and its
parent company Bayer but only three
plaintiffs to this day have been awarded
a settlement
I haven't had not one good year I've had
to go through some kind of treatments
every year either chemo or IV I geez or
surgery or surgery and how tough is that
been in this tact McCombs and his wife
worried that he may never see his case
go to trial he wants the peace to know
his family will be ok when he's gone
it's like he's just whittling away from
me and it makes me feel helpless and
helpless and you know the ones you love
you want to help but there's nothing I
can do I've done everything I could
possibly do to help this mean get better
all I'd like to say is to Monsanto is
take responsibility label it as
carcinogenic maybe other people won't
get
but I know roundups what called my
cancer
Monsanto which merged with Bayer plans
on appealing the two billion dollar
ruling and they're hanging their hat on
the EPA's conclusion that glyphosate is
not a carcinogen I apologize for getting
emotional but oh it's what I talk to him
it's just it's just so sad we're still
waiting to hear back from his lawyers we
don't know where the status of his case
is yet but I know when you find out you
will let us know yeah there really was a
tough tough interview thanks a lot Eric