Bayer said this week that its Monsanto unit had reached an agreement worth as much as $7.25bn to resolve tens of thousands of current and future lawsuits claiming that its Roundup weedkiller caused cancer, reports Reuters.
The move is a milestone for the firm, which has spent years tackling legal risks tied to Roundup, acquired as part of its $63bn purchase of agrochemical company Monsanto in 2018.
The German company said the proposed nationwide settlement, filed on Tuesday in state court in Missouri, would establish a long-term claims programme funded by capped annual payments over up to 21 years.
The company is facing claims over Roundup from about 65 000 plaintiffs in US state and federal courts. The plaintiffs say they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other forms of cancer after using the weedkiller, either at home or on the job.
Roundup is among the most widely used weedkillers in the United States. Bayer has said decades of studies have shown Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, are safe for human use.
The deal covers the bulk of the lawsuits, but requires a judge’s approval and a minimum number of plaintiffs to opt in.
It does not require Bayer to admit liability or wrongdoing and allows the company to back out if too many plaintiffs decline to participate.
It is also designed to head off future lawsuits, and allows people who can prove they have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and were exposed to Roundup before Tuesday to file claims to receive a portion of the settlement up to 21 years from now.
Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said he is confident the proposed class action settlement will most of the claims.
Attorneys negotiated for plaintiffs said the deal represents the best path forward. Payouts will be determined by a tiered system that considers exposure, age at diagnosis and cancer type. Individuals could receive up to $198 000 or more.
The company said it had separately reached confidential settlements to resolve other Roundup cases with specific law firms, although the company would not name the firms or specify the amount of those deals.
Supreme Court to hear appeal
Tuesday’s proposed settlement comes after the Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in a case that Bayer argues will sharply limit its liability in the litigation.
The company said the Supreme Court case, scheduled for oral arguments at the end of April, remains essential to resolving the Roundup litigation.
Bayer is arguing that consumers should not be able to sue it under state law for failing to warn that Roundup increases cancer risk because the US Environmental Protection Agency has found no such risk and requires no such warning.
Bayer argued that federal law does not allow it to add any warning to the product beyond the EPA-approved label.
Billions paid to settle previous suits
The company had previously paid about $10bn to settle most of the Roundup lawsuits that were pending as of 2020, but failed to get a settlement then covering future cases.
It has had a mixed record with cases that have gone to trial. It prevailed in a series of Roundup trials, but has been hit with large jury awards in the past few years, including a $2.1bn verdict in a case in Georgia in March.
The verdicts shattered both investor confidence and company hopes that the worst of the Roundup litigation was over, and put pressure on Bayer to find a comprehensive solution to the lawsuits.
Reuters article – Bayer proposes $7.25 billion plan to settle Roundup cancer cases (Open access)
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Bayer triumph after latest Roundup cancer trial
Bayer to pay $10.9bn in Roundup cancer settlements
Another legal win for Monsanto in Roundup cancer claim battles