Bayer loses third appeal against glyphosate weedkiller

FRANKFURT, Aug. 10 (Reuters) – Bayer (BAYGn.DE) has lost a third appeal against verdicts from U.S. courts which awarded damages to customers blaming their cancers for using its glyphosate-based weedkillers, leaving the German group of drugs and pesticides to hope for legal recourse to the Supreme Court of the United States.

On Monday evening, a California appeals court upheld an $ 86 million verdict that Bayer was responsible for the cancer of a couple after using Bayer’s glyphosate-based Roundup against weeds.

Bayer filed an appeal in February 2020, saying the verdict could not be reconciled with solid science or with product clearance from the federal environmental regulator.

Roundup-related lawsuits have sued the company since it acquired the brand as part of its $ 63 billion purchase from Monsanto in 2018.

“We do not agree with the court’s ruling because the verdict is not supported by either trial evidence or the law. Monsanto will consider its legal options in this case,” Bayer said in a statement.

He reaffirmed his intention to file a petition with the United States Supreme Court this month to consider a similar Roundup case in favor of Roundup user Edwin Hardeman.

Bayer reached a tentative settlement with the plaintiffs last year, but failed to secure court approval for a separate agreement on how to handle future cases, with Bayer intending to maintain the product on the market.

Last month, it announced an additional $ 4.5 billion litigation allowance to prepare for any adverse ruling from America’s highest court. This was in addition to the $ 11.6 billion he had previously set aside for settlements and litigation in this matter. Read more

Among the measures to contain the legal damages, Bayer plans to replace glyphosate in weedkillers for the US residential market with other active ingredients. She will continue to sell the herbicide to farmers, who depend heavily on it.

“We continue to be a strong advocate for the safety of Roundup, a position backed by four decades of in-depth science and assessments from the world’s leading health regulators who support its safe use,” Bayer added in its statement Tuesday.

A first verdict in 2019 drew attention after a California jury awarded more than $ 2 billion to users of Roundup Alberta and Alva Pilliod. The trial judge subsequently reduced the damages to $ 86 million.

Bayer’s setback comes after a federal appeals court upheld a $ 25 million verdict in May that Roundup caused California resident Edwin Hardeman’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Read more

About a year ago, Bayer failed to persuade a California appeals court to overturn a verdict in favor of school guard Dewayne Johnson, who claimed use of Roundup caused his cancer. .

Reporting by Ludwig Burger; edited by Jason Neely

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