A Missouri jury rejected claims by three women linking Bayer AG's Roundup weedkiller to their cancers, bolstering the company's settlement push. The unanimous verdict, the first since a US Supreme Court ruling blocked failure-to-warn lawsuits, centered on design defect arguments rather than warning labels. Bayer highlighted EPA safety assessments, pointing to its record of 17 favorable outcomes in the last 25 Roundup trials.
The verdict strengthens Bayer's position as it faces roughly 65,000 pending US cases. The company has proposed a $7.25 billion settlement, though the plaintiffs in this case opted out, claiming they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma from Roundup exposure. The verdict validates Bayer's stance that there is no evidence proving design defect, fraud or negligence in the Roundup litigation.
Bill Dodero, Bayer's US general counsel and global head of litigation, stated the ruling sends a "strong signal" that plaintiffs will face significant challenges proving claims following the Supreme Court decision. Bayer's Roundup litigation costs have already exceeded $11 billion.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing