Bayer settles lawsuits from cancer patients over Roundup weed killer for more than $10 billion

After thousands of lawsuits from cancer patients or their estates, the company behind Roundup weed killer is settling most of the current and possible future lawsuits for more than $10 billion.

Bayer, the German-based company that acquired agrochemical giant Monsanto in 2018, made the announcement Wednesday. It comes after several years of litigation from cancer patients who said Roundup can cause cancer and that Monsanto failed to adequately warn consumers.

The settlement of Roundup cases in the US “will bring closure to approximately 75% of the current Roundup litigation involving approximately 125,000 filed and unfiled claims overall,” Bayer said in a news release Wednesday.

“The company will make a payment of $8.8 billion to $9.6 billion to resolve the current Roundup litigation, including an allowance expected to cover unresolved claims, and $1.25 billion to support a separate class agreement to address potential future litigation.”

Potential future cases will be governed by a class agreement which is subject to court approval, Bayer said.

Bayer said the agreements “contain no admission of liability or wrongdoing.”

Of the thousands of Roundup-related lawsuits filed in federal or state courts, only three have gone to trial: those of cancer patients Dewayne Johnson, Edwin Hardeman, and Alva and Alberta Pilliod.

In each of those trials, jurors sided with the plaintiffs, saying Roundup was a substantial contributing factor in causing the plaintiffs’ cancer.

And in each case, jurors awarded the plaintiffs hundreds of millions (or billions) of dollars — though judges later reduced those award amounts, saying they were too excessive.

Bayer has appealed the verdicts in each of those three trials. On Wednesday, the company said those cases “will continue through the appeals process and are not covered by the settlement.”

“It is important for the company to continue these cases as the appeals will provide legal guidance going forward,” Bayer said.