Bottles of Roundup, a model owned by Bayer, are seen on the market in a retailer in New York Metropolis. June 30, 2022.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Bayer has received a trial in a lawsuit introduced by a California man who stated he developed most cancers from publicity to its Roundup weedkiller, ending what had been a five-trial dropping streak for the corporate in trials over comparable claims.
The decision was handed down on Friday by a jury in San Benito County, California Superior Court docket, Bayer introduced. The corporate stated in a press release that the decision was “consistent with the evidence in this case that Roundup does not cause cancer and is not responsible for the plaintiff’s illness.”
Legal professionals for plaintiff Bruce Jones didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark. Like most plaintiffs in Roundup lawsuits, Jones alleged that the product brought about him to develop a type of most cancers referred to as non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Round 165,000 claims have been made towards the corporate for private accidents allegedly attributable to Roundup, which Bayer acquired as a part of its $63 billion buy of U.S. agrochemical firm Monsanto in 2018.
Earlier than its current string of losses, which produced verdicts towards the corporate totaling greater than $2 billion, Bayer had received 9 consecutive trials, which means it has now received 10 of the final 15 trials. Additional circumstances are anticipated to be tried within the coming yr.
Bayer is interesting the verdicts towards it, which embody massive punitive damages awards which can be more likely to be diminished as a result of they exceed U.S. Supreme Court docket steering.
The losses had led some buyers to query Bayer’s authorized technique in defending the Roundup circumstances. The corporate stated final month that it could proceed combating the circumstances in courtroom and had “no appetite to write humongous checks” to settle them.
In 2020, Bayer settled many of the then-pending Roundup circumstances for as much as $9.6 billion however did not get a settlement overlaying future circumstances. Greater than 50,000 claims stay pending.