Bayer to Pay $2.25B as Jury Links Roundup Herbicide to Cancer

January 30, 2024 : A Pennsylvania jury on Friday ordered Bayer AG to pay $2.25 billion in damages to a California man who claimed that the company’s Roundup weed killer caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The verdict is the latest in a series of legal setbacks for Bayer, which acquired Roundup in its 2018 purchase of Monsanto Co.

The jury found that Bayer failed to warn consumers adequately about the cancer risks of Roundup and that the company acted negligently in its marketing of the product. The verdict includes $150 million in compensatory damages and $2.1 billion in punitive damages.

“This verdict sends a strong message to Bayer that they cannot continue to put profits before people’s health,” said Michael Miller, an attorney for the plaintiff, Edwin Hardeman. “We hope that this verdict will hold Bayer accountable for the harm their product has caused and deter them from engaging in similar conduct in the future.”

Bayer said in a statement that it plans to appeal the verdict. “We believe that the weight of the evidence at trial did not support the jury’s verdict,” the company said. “We are disappointed with the jury’s decision and will continue vigorously defending ourselves in these cases.”

The Roundup lawsuits are just one of the legal challenges facing Bayer. The company also faces lawsuits over its polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and its controversial Essure sterilization device.

Public health advocates and environmental groups have closely watched the Roundup lawsuits. The lawsuits allege that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is a carcinogen. Bayer has denied that glyphosate is a carcinogen, but the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans” in 2015.

The verdict in the Hardeman case is likely to significantly impact the Roundup litigation. More than 125,000 Roundup lawsuits are currently pending in federal and state courts in the United States.

Also Read, Gold Holds Modest Gains, Limited Upside Ahead of Fed Meeting