A Missouri jury has ordered Bayer to pay $1.56 billion to four plaintiffs who claim that its Roundup weedkiller lawsuit resulted in injuries that included cancer. This decision could increase the pressure of investors on Bayer, a German chemical and pharmaceutical firm, to alter its legal approach.
Nov 20 (The Justice Now) – According to court documents, a Cole County, Missouri jury decided on Friday that the Bayer Monsanto business was responsible for negligence claims or design defects, as well as failing to warn plaintiffs of possible dangers of using Roundup.
Valorie Gunther from New York, Jimmy Draeger of Missouri, and Daniel Anderson of California were awarded a total of $61.1 million in compensatory damages and $500 million in punishment. All three were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which they claimed was caused by the use of Roundup on their property. The wife of Draeger, Brenda, received $100,000 to cover the damage she was suffering from her husband’s illness.
The punitive damages can be reduced if appealed, as they exceed U.S. Supreme Court guidance.
Bayer has claimed that a long line of studies has demonstrated that Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, are safe for humans to use.
The decision is the fourth consecutive defeat in the courtroom for Bayer company, which resulted from a decision that it was found to not be responsible towards plaintiffs in nine trials. In the last month, Union Investment, one of Bayer’s top 10 shareholders, called on Bayer to look into negotiating with plaintiffs to settle additional cases.
Bart Rankin, partner at Forrest Weldon, which represented the plaintiffs, stated in an announcement that the win was the first in a series of victories on behalf of many plaintiffs.
Bayer declared in an announcement that it has strong arguments to have the latest verdicts rescinded in appeal.
It was said that in the most recent cases filed in the firm’s direction, the courts have kept plaintiffs from deceiving the EU’s renewal process for glyphosate and the safety review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The EU Commission has announced that it was planning to continue to renew its approval for the glyphosate product based on safety evaluations by The European Food Agency and European Chemicals Agency following a failure by EU members not to express an unambiguous view regarding the renewal.
Over 165,000 claims have been filed against Bayer over personal injuries believed to have been caused by Roundup, which Bayer purchased during the company’s $63 billion acquisition of agrochemicals company Monsanto in 2018.
In 2020, Bayer resolved most pending Roundup cases for $10.9 billion. About 50,000 claims are still unresolved, according to regulatory documents.
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If you or someone close to you was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma or the large Diffuse B-cell Lymphoma, Follicular Lymphoma, other cancers, or other diseases following the use of or exposure to Roundup from Monsanto You may be legally entitled to an amount of money to cover the costs for your injuries.
