Alarm bells ring on our growing use of codeine

Earlier this year, when a California jury awarded $2bn to a couple who claimed Roundup weed killer caused their cancer, it seemed a high point. It was the largest US jury verdict against the company in litigation over the chemical and is, unsurprisingly, being contested.

However, a few months later, those figures look like something a district court judge, blunted by a good lunch, might suggest for the court’s poor box.