Pharmaceutical giant Bayer has been ordered by a judge in California to pay US$332m after being found liable in a case brought by a man who claimed exposure to the firm’s Roundup weed killer was the cause of his cancer.
The company says it expects the verdict to be overturned, or at least what it describes as an “excessive” damage award reduced, on appeal. The trial is the third loss for Bayer in a month, having already been hit with US$175m and US$1.25m penalties in two separate Roundup trials. Prior to that, it had won nine other trials over similar claims.
The latest developments follow a long line of legal battles over the product, which Bayer acquired as part of its purchase of Monsanto in 2018. It settled the majority of Roundup claims in 2020 at a cost of over US$10bn but Reuters reports that still faces almost 40,000 other cases.
Earlier this year, Bayer said it had set aside over US$15bn to settle lawsuits alleging that its herbicides are linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other cancer types. The firm denies wrongdoing but says the payouts are intended to draw an end to uncertainty over the issue.
Printed Copy:
Would you also like to receive CIR Magazine in print?
Data Use:
We will also send you our free daily email newsletters and other relevant communications, which you can opt out of at any time. Thank you.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE