Multi-Billion Dollar Roundup® Settlement Fails to Resolve All Litigation

Roundup® weed killer has been linked to cancer since 2015, when the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate, Roundup®’s active ingredient, as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

Since then, Bayer AG, which purchased Roundup®’s inventor, Monsanto, for $63 billion in 2018, has faced tens of thousands of claims linking its best-selling herbicide to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Bayer/Monsanto lost several high-profile trials before entering into settlement negotiations. According to Reuters, Bayer AG’s settled 15,000 additional lawsuits for a running total of $11 billion on September 15, 2020. This brings the number of resolved cases to about 45,000 – significantly fewer than the company hoped to settle.

In total, Bayer faces an estimated 125,000 filed and unfiled claims over Roundup®. In initial settlement talks, Bayer planned to cover 95,000 of these cases and set aside $1.25 billion for future claims and research. Most lawsuits come from homeowners and groundskeepers, so the company took a calculated risk by attempting to resolve all its legal problems with one enormous settlement. Additionally, Bayer did not admit to any liability or wrongdoing.

Thanks to a discerning judge, settlement efforts are carefully reviewed and monitored. The door to litigation is not closed and those who have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma related to Roundup® exposure can still pursue the justice they deserve.

What Were Some of the Judge’s Concerns?

The District Court Judge in charge of Bayer’s case was “skeptical of the propriety and fairness of the proposed settlement.” This is because the company intended to use some of the settlement money to defend itself against future claims by sponsoring research to determine whether or not glyphosate causes cancer and at what levels exposure is dangerous. The judge questioned whether it was lawful to shift legal action out of courtrooms and into company-sponsored laboratories. He also expressed concerns about the latency associated with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Roundup use, as many of the claims the company may face have not yet emerged if glyphosate does, indeed, cause cancer.

Can I Still Pursue a Claim?

If you have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after using Roundup®, you still have the right to legal action.

For more information about your potential claim, please contact Brett H. Oppenheimer, PLLC at (502) 242-8877 or online.

Your initial consultation is free, and we will not recover any legal fees unless we win your case.

Additional Reading

For more information about Roundup litigation, please open the hyperlinks throughout this article and read the following blog posts:

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