Bayer to Settle Roundup Cancer Claims for £8B

On June 24, 2020, Bayer announced it will pay more than £8 billion to settle about 125,000 claims that its Roundup Weed Killer causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The company estimates the settlement will be anywhere from £8.2 billion to £8.8 billion ($10.1 billion to $10.9 billion) and will end about 75% of the Roundup cases. The deal covers all litigation brought by law firms leading the federal multidistrict litigation and the California state court cases.

Included in that figure is over £1 billion for any future claims from Roundup users who may develop non-Hodgkins lymphoma, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“First and foremost, the Roundup settlement is the right action at the right time for Bayer to bring a long period of uncertainty to an end,” Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said in the company’s official statement.

“It resolves most current claims and puts in place a clear mechanism to manage risks of potential future litigation. It is financially reasonable when viewed against the significant financial risks of continued, multiyear litigation and the related impacts to our reputation and to our business.

“The decision to resolve the Roundup litigation enables us to focus fully on the critical supply of healthcare and food,” Baumann continued. “It will also return the conversation about the safety and utility of glyphosate-based herbicides to the scientific and regulatory arena and to the full body of science.”

Bayer said it is also paying about £987 million to settle two cases involving polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) in water and up to £324 million to settle cases involving another weed killer, dicamba, drifting and killing plants not bred to resist it, according to Time magazine.

About a week before the settlement announcement, U.K. do-it-yourself giant B&Q announced its plan to stop selling Roundup Weed Killer after the product was linked to cancer in the United States.

B&Q has removed Roundup Weed Killer and other glyphosate-based products from its website, according to the Daily Mail. The company will not restock the product in stores after the existing stock is sold out.

Monsanto introduced Roundup, also known as glyphosate, for commercial use in 1974. The chemical works by blocking essential proteins that help weeds grow. 

In 1985, the EPA found tumors in mice exposed to glyphosate, leading the agency to classify the chemical as a possible carcinogen.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared glyphosate a probable carcinogen in March 2015 after reportedly finding evidence connecting exposure to the chemical with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 

Research by the University of Washington recently found a person’s risk of developing the disease may be increased by 41% if they are exposed to glyphosate, according to previous Top Class Actions reporting.

The Soil Association says glyphosate has been linked to cancer, as well as liver and kidney damage.

About a third of U.K. cereal crops are sprayed with glyphosate, which kills weeds and dries plants to make them easier to harvest. 

Use of glyphosate in farming in the U.K. has increased by 400% in the last 20 years, the Soil Association found. From 2014 to 2016, the area being treated with glyphosate increased by 24%, and the amount of product applied increased by 26%.

Bayer said one of its settlement agreements establishes a Class, or group, that includes local governments with Environmental Protection Agency permits involving water discharges impaired by polychlorinated biphenyl. If approved by the Court, Bayer will pay that Class about £527 million.

Separate from the Class, Bayer has also come to separate agreements with the attorneys general of New Mexico, Washington and the District of Columbia to resolve PCB claims. The company will make payments totaling about £138 million.

Monsanto was an agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology company that was among the first to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops. It had also once manufactured controversial products such as Agent Orange, used by the U.S. military as a part of its chemical warfare program in the Vietnam War.

Bayer acquired Monsanto for about £52 billion in 2018, inheriting thousands of lawsuits in the process. 

Plaintiffs in the lawsuits claimed Monsanto ignored the warnings about the potentially cancer-causing chemicals in Roundup Weed Killer and concealed the information from consumers.

A Washington lawyer who oversaw the mediation process told The New York Times he expects most current plaintiffs will join the settlement.

“In my experience, all those cases that have not yet been settled will quickly be resolved by settlement,” he said. “I will be surprised if there are any future trials.”

He also indicated that the coronavirus pandemic may have helped speed the agreement along because U.S. courts were closed.

“The pandemic worked to the advantage of settlement because the threat of a scheduled trial was unavailable,” he said.

Class Members involved in last week’s settlement will receive about £4,057 to £203,000, two people with knowledge of the negotiations told The New York Times.

Bayer expects to begin making payments this year and said that they will be financed through “existing surplus liquidity, future free cash flows, the proceeds from the Animal Health divestment, and additional bond issuances.”

Read More Lawsuit & Settlement News:

HSBC Faces £1.3B Group Litigation Lawsuit Over Film Investment Scheme

Group Action Lawsuit Filed by Mercedes-Benz Owners In New Emissions Scandal

FCA Asks for 3-Month Extension on Frozen Credit Card Payments

UK Airlines to Sue Government Over COVID-19 Quarantines for Travellers