Garry Marchman is seen in this 2014 Times file photo.

It’s been two years since Garry Marchman received the life-changing diagnosis of lymphoma that very nearly killed him. 

The Cullman County associate commissioner was briefly sidelined in the first year of office when he began showing symptoms that doctors would later confirm was non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He returned to work in late January 2016 after taking six months off to undergo treatment. 

Marchman is healthy now, though he has to routinely monitor his blood count. And now he’s part of a class-action  lawsuit — the named plaintiff, in fact —against herbicide manufacturer Monsanto Co., alleging design defect and failure to warn users of its harmful effects.

His sister, Delitha Marchman, came across information about people exposed to RoundUp developing the specific form of cancer he was diagnosed with, Marchman said. 

“So I put my name down. I never thought they would put my name up at the top,” Marchman said. “I never thought anything of it. I’ve use RoundUp all my life, in the military and on the farm.” 

The federal complaint  filed July 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri alleges that Montesano failed its duty to properly test, develop, design, manufacture, inspect, package, label, market, promote, sell, distribute, maintain supply, provide proper warnings and take the necessary steps to ensure that its Roundup products did not cause users harm.

The lawsuit alleges that Marchman suffered injuries from exposure to Roundup because the product contains the active ingredient glyphosate and the surfactant polyethoxylated tallow amine, which are dangerous to human health. 

Doctors at UAB Medical Center in Birmingham diagnosed Marchman with lymphoma in the summer of 2015 after he was admitted to St. Vincent’s Hospital suffering from symptoms similar to a common cold along with back pain and swelling. 

His condition rapidly deteriorated when his kidneys and liver failed, and he had to be put on emergency dialysis. Doctors thought he might need a liver transplant, and he was added to the list. He suffered another setback when he had to be hospitalized in UAB’s intensive care unit for nine days when he developed a high fever when complications arose after his first dose of chemotherapy.

The lawsuit holds Monsanto responsible because it allegedly failed to investigate, study, test or promote the safety or to minimize the dangers to users and consumers of its product; failed to exercise reasonable care to warn of the dangerous risks associated with use; and exposure to the product and wrongfully concealed information concerning the dangerous nature of Roundup.

Marchman’s complaint seeks judgment for compensatory and economic damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees and costs of proceedings. He is represented by Jacob A. Flint of Flint Law Firm LLC in Edwardsville, Illinois, and Aimee H. Wagstaff and David J. Wool of Andrus Wagstaff PC in Lakewood, Colorado.