Bayer wins Roundup cancer trial after Supreme Court ruling
The German pharmaceutical giant Bayer won a trial on Thursday over claims the Roundup weedkiller caused cancer in three women.
The Missouri jury sided unanimously with Bayer in a case brought by Theresa Aretino, Cynthia Fernandez and Betty Larkin in 2020. The three women had claimed they were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma after regularly using the weedkiller manufactured by Bayer's subsidiary Monsanto.
This is the first trial since a US Supreme Court ruling that limited complaints over the product. The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that plaintiffs could not argue that the Roundup label failed to warn users about the risk of cancer since the EPA had concluded the label does not require a cancer warning.
Legal Battle Continues
Bayer is waiting for a separate court ruling where the company is seeking a $7.25 billion settlement in relation to tens of thousands of other Roundup cases. Some 65,000 cases have been filed against the company, claiming Roundup gave them cancer.
We are pleased with the jury's favorable verdict for Monsanto validating our belief that there is no evidence to prove design defect, fraud or negligence claims in the Roundup litigation.
Scientific Dispute
The company has repeatedly defended the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, as safe, calling it "one of the most studied agricultural tools in history." The EPA has previously concluded that glyphosate is probably not carcinogenic, but it is in the middle of a new review of its safety.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded in 2015 that the chemical was "probably carcinogenic" to humans, but Bayer has rejected the study's findings, calling it an outlier.
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