Bayer AG’s Roundup faces another setback as it loses a third consecutive appeal of a jury finding that its weed killer causes cancer. The company has averaged nearly $50 million in damages for each consumer.
An appeals court in San Francisco refused to overturn the 2019 verdict that awarded more than $2 billion to a couple who claimed they fell ill after more than three decades of using the herbicide. The verdict was the eighth-largest product-defect award in U.S. history. The appeals court agreed with the trial judge’s decision to reduce the amount to $86.7 million.
Bayer’s Response to Roundup Cancer Verdicts
Bayer recently set aside an additional $4.5 billion to address thousands of Roundup lawsuits, which means its total reserves for the cases is over $16 billion. Additionally, the company’s Monsanto unit will remove the current version of Roundup from the market in 2023.
In 2018, the company inherited the legal issues related to Roundup when it purchased Monsanto for $63 billion. Monsanto began manufacturing Roundup in the 1970s.
“We respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling as the verdict is not supported by the evidence at trial or the law,” Bayer said via an email statement. “Monsanto will consider its legal options in this case.”
Bayer plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to look at another case the company lost in 2019, hoping that it will determine that the company should be absolved of any wrongdoing because federal regulators determined that glyphosate isn’t a carcinogen.
What’s Next for Bayer
A fourth trial began last week in San Bernardino, California’s state court. 70-year-old Donnetta Stephens allegedly developed non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma after using Roundup for more than 30 years. Before the trial began, the manufacturing company’s lawyers persuaded the judge to throw out claims that the company hid Roundup’s health risks, which may make it easier for Bayer to win the case.
For more information about lawsuits related to Roundup, contact us today.
Tracy Everhart
Tracy Everhart is the Editor for Drug Law Journal. A highly-trained and certified medical professional, Tracy is also an accomplished medical writer. After spending years on the front lines of the medical profession, Tracy now devotes her expertise and skills to researching and reporting on new drugs and devices that enter the market, as well as their side-effects and the real-life stories involved. Prior to joining Drug Law Journal, Tracy wrote for benchmark online healthcare resources focused on families and, in particular, women’s health issues. Tracy holds post-graduate degrees from both the American College of Healthcare Sciences and the Yale School of Nursing. She is also a graduate of both Hampshire College, where she studied microbiology and the University of South Carolina school of nursing.