Bold claim: Bayer is moving to settle a flood of Roundup cancer lawsuits for $7.25 billion. In a joint announcement, the agrochemical giant and lawyers representing cancer patients outlined a proposed settlement to resolve thousands of US cases that accused Bayer of failing to warn consumers that Roundup could cause cancer.
This development arrives as the US Supreme Court gears up to hear Bayer’s argument that the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of Roundup without a cancer warning should undermine claims filed in state court. Importantly, the proposed deal would not impact that Supreme Court case itself.
Nevertheless, the settlement would reduce some of the exposure tied to a potential, unpredictable Supreme Court ruling—benefiting both Bayer and patients pursuing damages.
Bayer, headquartered in Germany and owner of Monsanto since 2018, still rejects the claim that glyphosate, Roundup’s main ingredient, can cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The company has warned, however, that growing legal costs threaten its ability to keep selling the product in US agricultural markets.
“Litigation uncertainty has haunted the company for years, and this settlement provides a path to resolution,” Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said on Tuesday.
The proposed settlement was filed in the circuit court of St. Louis, Missouri—the location of Bayer’s North America crop science operations and the state with many of the lawsuits. Court approval is still required for the deal to proced.
