Third Time Proves Unlucky for Bayer's Roundup Lawsuits

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--German pharmaceuticals and chemicals major Bayer AG (Leverkusen, Germany) has lost its third appeal against U.S. court verdicts that have awarded hundreds of millions of dollars to people that contracted cancer from using the company's glyphosate-based Roundup weedkiller products.

A California court is the latest to reject the company's appeal, this time upholding a verdict awarding US$86 million to a couple that got cancer from using Roundup. The prior award of US$2 billion had previously been amended to the current US$86 million. It is the latest in a number of high-profile awards against the company, which has set aside billions of dollars to deal with more than 100,000 pending cases. Bayer had argued that the verdict went against sound science and did not reconcile with product clearance from the federal environment regulator.

"We respectfully disagree with the court's ruling as the verdict is not supported by the evidence at trial or the law," Bayer said in a statement. "Monsanto will consider its legal options in this case."

Last July, the company agreed to pay out $10.9 billion to settle more than 100,000 U.S. lawsuits that claimed the company's popular Roundup weedkiller caused cancer. The company recently announced an additional $4.5 billion to deal with thousands of extra Roundup suits, to boost its reserves for the cases to more than $16 billion. The company has outlined a five-prong approach to dealing with the Roundup disaster, part of which will include the company pulling the current version of Roundup off the U.S. consumer lawn and garden market in 2023. Bayer also is seeking a favourable ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that would block future Roundup litigation.

Bayer's Roundup was acquired in early 2018 when Bayer acquired Monsanto Company (St. Louis, Missouri) in a $66 billion merger. The deal received the green light from the European Commission in April 2018. For additional information, see April 23, 2018, article - Bayer-Monsanto $66 Billion Merger Gets European Green Light.

In Europe, the European Commission granted a fresh five-year licence for the glyphosate weedkiller's use in the European Union (EU) in 2017. Of the 28 member states, 18 voted in favour, nine against and one abstained. The licence is due for possible renewal in December 2022. Austria has already banned its use, with Germany looking to phase it out from 2023.

Industrial Info is tracking more than 80 active or planned Bayer AG projects globally worth more than US$1.1 billion. In June, Industrial Info reported that the company was investing 250 million euro (US$303 million) to expand its birth control manufacturing facilities in Turku, Finland, known as the world's "contraceptive capital". For additional information, see June 28, 2021, article - Bayer Building New Contraceptives Plant in Finland.

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