Bold claim: Bayer is negotiating a $7.25 billion settlement to resolve thousands of US lawsuits claiming its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer.
A proposed settlement was announced on Tuesday by Bayer, the agrochemical company, and lawyers representing cancer patients. The deal aims to resolve numerous lawsuits that allege Bayer failed to warn users that Roundup could lead to cancer.
This development comes as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear Bayer’s argument that the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of Roundup without a cancer warning should invalidate claims filed in state courts. Importantly, the proposed settlement would not affect that Supreme Court challenge.
If implemented, the settlement would reduce some of the exposure and risk tied to an eventual, uncertain Supreme Court ruling—for both Bayer and the plaintiffs seeking damages.
Bayer, based in Germany, acquired Monsanto in 2018, the maker of Roundup. Bayer still disputes the claim that glyphosate, the weedkiller’s core ingredient, can cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma. However, the company has warned that mounting legal costs could threaten its ability to continue selling the product in U.S. agricultural markets.
“Litigation uncertainty has plagued the company for years, and this settlement gives the company a road to closure,” Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said on Tuesday.
The settlement was filed in the Missouri circuit court in St. Louis, which is home to Bayer’s North America crop science division and the state where many lawsuits have been filed. The court’s approval is still required for the agreement to move forward.
