Glyphosate: According to the Krebs judgment, billions of Bayer are at stake

Glyphosate: According to the Krebs judgment, billions of Bayer are at stake

SAN FRANCISCO / LEVERKUSEN. His daughter Monsanto suffered a setback in the United States – A quick settlement with 11,200 plaintiffs?

Image: (APA / AFP / Josh Edelson)

German pharmaceutical giant Bayer suffered a bitter defeat during a landmark trial in California. The Monsanto subsidiary, which produces the controversial Glyphosat herbicide, also known as Roundup, was dismissed by the San Francisco federal court, a lawsuit against the plaintiff, Edwin Hardeman, a cancer patient. He claims that his lymphatic cancer is due to the use of glyphosate. The jury of the court decided unanimously that glyphosate was a major factor in the disease. In the stock market, Bayer immediately felt defeat. The stock price fell more than twelve percent before recovering slightly.
Now, the process enters the next round, in which it is decided whether Monsanto has simulated the risks and what damages could be.

Disappointment at Bayer

The Germans expressed their disappointment after the verdict. They had badumed that their studies would pay more attention to the fact that glyphosate herbicides do not cause cancer. They now want to prove that Monsanto has acted appropriately and is not responsible for Hardeman's disease.

The verdict in San Francisco is already the second defeat in a glyphosate process. Former school principal Dewayne Johnson was also successful in August against Bayer. Both complainants suffer from a non-Hodgkin's syndrome. You have been using Roundup for several years. Johnson had originally received $ 289 million, then $ 79 million.

Brisanter sample case

The Hardeman case is explosive for Bayer because it is considered a "Bellwether case", allowing a type of case based on other plaintiffs to badert their rights. The competent judge in San Francisco has consolidated several hundred lawsuits from farmers, gardeners and consumers lying on his desk. And by the end of January, Monsanto had received 11,200 lawsuits in the United States for glyphosate. The next trial begins in Oakland on March 28.

For the German pharmaceutical group, the question arises as to whether the risks of the $ 63 billion transaction related to the Monsanto acquisition have been underestimated. If negotiations with more than 11,000 complainants result in a settlement, the group could be worth billions of dollars. Up to now, only 660 million euros of defense costs had been recovered.

The reactions of the opponents to glyphosate did not take long Wednesday. In Austria too, calls have again been made to ban the herbicide. The verdict speaks clearly, according to a Global 2000 release. Evidence of the carcinogenic effect is clear.

What does Köstinger do?

The environmental protection organization, but also Greenpeace and the Greens, are calling on Environment Minister Elisabeth Köstinger (ÖVP) to permanently ban glyphosate. "Since December 2017, the Minister has promised to work on a plan of action for the release of Glyphosat.How long do we have to wait for the lyrics to follow the action?" Green MEP and organic farmer Thomas Waitz.

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