What We're Reading: $2 Billion Verdict Against Monsanto; Texas Planned Parenthood Funding; Maryland Raises Tobacco Age

Monsanto Ordered to Pay $2 Billion In Roundup Case

Yesterday, a California jury found that Monsanto’s popular weed killer, Roundup, was responsible for causing a married couple’s cancer, according to The New York Times. The couple both developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after years of using the weed killer. The jury ordered Monsanto to pay $2 billion in damages, agreeing the company failed to warn consumers about the dangers of its product’s use. The case was the third ruled against Monsanto since August and the company faces thousands of similar cases.

Texas Planned Parenthood Funding At Risk in Hearing

A federal appeals court will decide whether and how states could end Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, The New York Times reported. While a federal district judge blocked Texas’ effort to end Planned Parenthood funding in 2017, a 3-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit of Appeals in New Orleans said the judge failed to follow proper legal standards. The full appeals court will re-hear the case today and 16 judges are expected to participate. The outcome could also affect Planned Parenthood operations in Mississippi and Louisiana.

Maryland Raises Minimum Tobacco Purchasing Age to 21

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed a bill into law yesterday that would raise the legal age to purchase tobacco and nicotine products, including vaping devices such as e-cigarettes, in the state from 18 to 21, according to The Hill. The law will take effect in October and was an effort to curb increasing rates of teen vaping and tobacco use. Similar bills have been proposed in Florida and Arizona and have been moving through the legislative process.