Bayer’s Roundup-cancer trial losses mount
Published: February 19, 2024
Category: Glyphosate Controversy
Juries in Philadelphia ordered Bayer to pay nearly $3.5 million and $2.25 billion in separate lawsuits after jurors found that the company’s Roundup weedkiller caused cancer in two plaintiffs. Bayer has now lost six consecutive Roundup-cancer trials.
In the first trial in December, a Philadelphia jury ordered Bayer to pay nearly $3.5 million after it found that the company’s Roundup weedkiller caused a woman’s cancer.
Pennsylvania resident Kelly Martel said her non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer resulted from her use of Roundup. The jury awarded her $462,500 in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages, which resulted from Monsanto’s egregious and negligent behavior.
In the more recent January trial, a jury handed down a $2.25 billion verdict, which included $2 billion in punitive damages, against Monsanto, which was purchased by Bayer in 2018.
The plaintiff, John McKivison, 49, filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia against Monsanto/Bayer after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which he said was due to using Roundup on his property for 20 years.
The significant amount of punitive damages awarded in both trials are due to Monsanto’s negligent and egregious behavior to claim Roundup’s safety.
The verdicts in the Philadelphia courts marked the fifth and sixth consecutive trial losses for Bayer.
Around 165,000 claims have been made against Monsanto/Bayer for injuries, particularly non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In 2020, Bayer settled most of the Roundup cases for up to $9.6 billion but another 50,000 claims remain pending.
Bayer has said it will appeal the Philadelphia trial verdicts as well as its other four trial losses.
Sources: Reuters, Washington Post
To view source articles, visit:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/01/27/roundup-monsanto-bayer-cancer-claim/
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