Monsanto asks US court to issue $ 289 million verdict on glyphosate

(Reuters) – Bayer AG (BAYGn.DEThe Monsanto unit on Tuesday urged a California judge to award a verdict of $ 289 million to a man who alleged that glyphosate weed killers, including Roundup, had given him cancer.

The company said in motions filed in the California Superior Court of San Francisco that the jury's decision was insufficiently supported by the evidence presented at trial by school gardener Dewayne Johnson.

Johnson's case, filed in 2016, was the subject of an expedited trial due to the seriousness of his non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system caused by years of exposure to Roundup and Ranger Pro, another Monsanto herbicide. contains glyphosate.

Monsanto asked Superior Court Judge Suzanne Bolanos, who supervised the trial, to overturn the verdict or, alternatively, to reduce the sentence or grant a new trial. A hearing on motions is scheduled for October 10.

The company, which denies the allegations, has already stated that it would appeal the verdict if necessary.

The Johnson case was the first to be tried for cancer claims caused by glyphosate. Monsanto faces some 8,000 similar lawsuits across the United States.

The Bayer shares, which bought Monsanto this year for $ 63 billion, slipped after the August 10 jury decision and the stock was still trading some 20% below its value of 73.30 euros on Tuesday.

"The jury's decision is totally at odds with over 40 years of actual use, a body of scientific data and analysis … that supports the conclusion that glyphosate herbicides are safe and do not do not cause cancer in humans. "Bayer said in a statement Tuesday.

Bayer said Johnson failed to prove that glyphosate caused his cancer and that the scientific evidence he presented at trial "was well below the standard of causality required by California law."

The US Environmental Protection Agency concluded a glyphosate risk assessment for several decades in September 2017 and concluded that this chemical was probably not carcinogenic to humans. However, the World Health Organization's cancer control unit in 2015 classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans".

The jury found that Monsanto had not warned Johnson and other consumers of the cancer risks posed by its weed killers. He awarded $ 39 million in compensation awards and $ 250 million in punitive damages.

The company in its motion for a new trial also stated that statements by Johnson's lawyers improperly inflicted and influenced the jurors. Some legal experts have stated that Monsanto faced lengthy appeals on these grounds.