Bayer's $2B Proposal For Roundup Lawsuits Settlement Rejected

Bayer's $2B Proposal For Roundup Lawsuits Settlement Rejected

Introduction

Bayer's proposal of a $2 billion Roundup class-action settlement to prevent future claims from the weedkiller users has been rejected by the U.S. district judge.

Earlier, Bayer announced a $9 billion settlement to resolve the lawsuits faced by the company along with a $2 billion settlement to cover the future claims over the next four years. The agreement is yet to get court approval.

Bayer's proposal would prevent new complaints for four years and a panel of juries will investigate the link between Roundup and cancer during this period. It will also restrict users from seeking punitive damages who reject the settlement.

On May 26, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria rejected the preliminary approval of the proposal by stating that the agreement is unfair for the users who have not yet filed lawsuits against the weedkiller. The court even highlighted that the agreement provides a window of four years to file the claim, but non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma can be caused in 10-15 years.

The judge even raised concern over the exhaustion of the funds before the victims reporting the claims as the company has not yet put a label warning on its product to alert the users about the cancer risks.

Roundup, one of the most commonly and widely used weed killers, contains Glyphosate as one of its main ingredients. Glyphosate is a systemic and broad-spectrum herbicide that was patented by a U.S. company, Monsanto, in 1970. Bayer acquired Monsanto on June 7, 2018.

After the patent for Monsanto expired in the U.S. in 2000 and outside the U.S. in 1991, many other manufacturers started marketing their glyphosate products leading to a substantial increase in sales and global usage. The chemical name of glyphosate is N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine, and it blocks an enzyme in the plant, which helps in preparing amino acids and proteins, thus, killing the plants within a few days.

Initially, the users used Roundup as a non-selective herbicide just like paraquat and diquat. People attempted to use glyphosate-based herbicides to row crops, but crop damage problems restricted its use. In 1996 commercial introduction of a glyphosate-resistant soybean resulted in increased use of Roundup throughout the United States. Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" became the best-selling product of the company following the advertisement and the sales increased by around 20% per year between 1990 and 1996.

In 1996, the introduction of a glyphosate-resistant soybean resulted in the growing use of Roundup throughout the United States. Sales of Roundup increased around 20% per year between 1990 and 1996. The product was used in over 160 countries by 2015. It was mostly used on corn, soy, and cotton crops that are genetically designed to resist the chemical. But as of 2012, crops like almond, peach, cantaloupe, onion, cherry, sweet corn, and citrus have been treated by the glyphosate in approximately 5 million acres of California.

Monsanto was accused of false and misleading advertising of glyphosate products in 1996, resulting in a lawsuit by the New York State attorney general. The company claimed that the spray-on glyphosate-based herbicides were non-toxic, safer than table salt, environment friendly, and biodegradable. Later, Monsanto removed the misleading advertisement to settle the case and avoid higher penalties. Some contractors faked the tests conducted on glyphosate along with other pesticides. Craven Laboratories in 1991 and Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories in 1970 conducted toxicology tests by fraudulently analyzing samples for residues of glyphosate. Monsanto has even admitted that the studies have since been repeated.

The court added that the settlement is unfair for the users and the company must submit a new proposal that will ensure it protects the Roundup users who have not yet  been diagnosed with cancer but might get it in the future. The company has agreed with the court and said that it will focus on making a suitable agreement that will comply with the court's guidelines.

More than 120,000 Non-Hodgkin lymphoma lawsuits are registered by former users of Roundup against Bayer. The company is even expected to face new claims in the coming years where the users claim of being diagnosed with cancer due to the glyphosate present in the weedkiller.