The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Bayer-owned Monsanto, the company behind the herbicide Roundup. This is in favor of thousands of lawsuits claiming Roundup causes cancer.
The court did not give a reason for their ruling. It upholds a $25 million payment to a California man who claimed years of Roundup use resulted in his cancer diagnosis.
Bayer’s Response
Bayer acquired Monsanto and Roundup in 2018 for $63 billion. This court decision brings the legal spotlight to Roundup, which the company has been trying to avoid. In a response to the ruling, Bayer expressed its disagreement, referencing a 2020 federal review that declared glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, was not a health risk when correctly used.
Glyphosate: A Health Risk?
Studies and reviews maintain contrasting conclusions about glyphosate’s safety. While the federal review saw no health risks, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (part of WHO) considers glyphosate as a probable carcinogen.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s conclusions align with the federal review, stating that glyphosate is not a health risk for humans when used properly.
However, the federal court did order EPA to re-assess glyphosate’s safety.
The Ongoing Lawsuits
The key case at the time of the court ruling was that of Edwin Hardeman, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2015. There are around 30,000 ongoing lawsuits against Bayer and Roundup. Roughly 107,000 of the 138,000 total cases have been resolved.
The lawsuits are not just from users. Earlier this year, 320 institutional investors, which included banks, insurers, and pension funds, sued Bayer for €2.2 billion ($2.5 billion) in damages in a German court. They claimed the company was being misleading about the financial fall-out of Roundup legal issues.
Reference:
US Appeals Court Forces EPA to Reassess Glyphosate on Health and Environmental Impact
