Roundup Update
The AP has a nice piece on the current status of Roundup cases. The weedkiller Roundup debuted as a Monsanto product in 1974, with glyphosate as its active ingredient. Bayer acquired Monsanto in 2018, and with it came increasing lawsuits that glyphosate causes a type of cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Approximately 200,000 Roundup claims have been made against Bayer, largely focused on the failure to warn. Although some studies link glyphosate to cancer, the EPA has said it is unlikely to be carcinogenic in humans when used as directed. The federally approved label for Roundup has no warning for cancer.
Bayer has joined with a coalition of agriculture organizations, the Modern Ag Alliance, in an attempt to block similar claims going forward. State legislatures in Georgia and North Dakota enacted a liability-shield law last year. On April 1, the Kentucky General Assembly overrode a veto by Governor Andy Bashear and became the third jurisdiction to adopt such a law.
On April 27, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a Missouri case in which a jury awarded a plaintiff $1.25 M for developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma due to Monsanto’s failure to warn. Bayer argues that federal pesticide laws preempt failure-to-warn claims under state law.
Meanwhile, a Saint Louis circuit court judge has given preliminary approval to a settlement that would resolve most of the pending and future failure-to-warn claims. People can opt out of the settlement until June 4th:
The proposed deal calls for Bayer to make annual payments into a special fund for up to 21 years, totaling as much as $7.25 billion. The amount of money paid to individuals would vary depending on how they used Roundup, how old they were when diagnosed and the severity of their non-Hodgkin lymphoma.