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Monsanto's Roundup at a store in Encinitas, California, June 26, 2017. REUTERS / Mike Blake

It's a small win for Monsanto. An American judge has greatly reduced the amount of damages due. It was set last May after a lawsuit between the American pesticide specialist and a couple of Americans. They have lymphoma, which they attribute to their use of Roundup since 1982. This was the heaviest penalty for trials related to the use of glyphosate in Monsanto products. In total, benefits rose from just over $ 2 billion to $ 87 million.

There are two aspects to this decline. The first and most important is the drastic reassessment of "punitive" damages. They go from $ 2 billion to $ 69.3 million. The indemnities of Alva and Alberta Pilliod for their medical expenses, economic losses and moral damages were divided by three and even more than 3 times for Alberta Pilliod.

But Monsanto's victory is not complete. The judge refused a new trial. According to her, the evidence supports the fact that Roundup caused the cancers of both spouses. She criticizes the company's malice in its efforts to hinder, discourage or distort scientific investigation.

Monsanto is in the sights of American justice. At the end of April, she faced over 13,000 lawsuits in the United States. This legal and financial risk regularly affects the price of the German Bayer stock exchange that bought Monsanto last year.