High-stakes trial over Roundup cancer claim to begin

A jury in federal court in San Francisco will decide whether Roundup weed killer caused a California man's cancer in a trial starting today that plaintiffs' attorneys say could help determine the fate of hundreds of similar lawsuits.

Seventy-year-old Edwin Hardeman is the second plaintiff to go to trial of thousands around the country who claim agribusiness giant Monsanto's weed killer causes cancer.

Monsanto says studies have established that the active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, is safe.

A San Francisco jury in August awarded another man $289 million after determining Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A judge later slashed the award to $78 million, and Monsanto has appealed.

Hardeman's trial is before a different judge and may be more significant. U.S. Judge Vince Chhabria is overseeing hundreds of Roundup lawsuits and has deemed Hardeman's case and two others "bellwether trials."