A Missouri jury handed Bayer and its Monsanto subsidiary a fourth Roundup weed killer trial loss and ordered the pesticide maker to pay $1.56 billion to four plaintiffs who claimed the company’s pesticide causes cancer.
Three plaintiffs — Daniel Anderson of California, Jimmy Draeger of Missouri and Valorie Gunther of New York — were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma after using the product for decades and received an award of $61.1 million in compensatory damages.
The jury also awarded $500 million to each of them for punitive damages, which are damages typically awarded to punish defendants for especially harmful behavior. A fourth plaintiff, Draeger’s wife Brenda, was awarded $100,000 for harm allegedly caused by her husband’s diagnosis.
The jury found the companies liable for design defects, negligence and failure to warn about the cancer risks associated with Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosate. These claims echo those of other Roundup lawsuits.
Bayer called the punitive damages award “unconstitutionally excessive” and plans to appeal the decision, according to a statement on the company’s website.
Verdict Ends Bayer’s St. Louis Winning Streak
Before the latest loss, Bayer and Monsanto won nine consecutive trials in Missouri.
“We have strong arguments to get the recent unfounded verdicts overturned. We won nine of the last 13 trials and the majority of claims in this litigation are resolved. The company remains fully committed to defending the robust scientific and regulatory evidence in future trials and appeals,” Bayer representatives told The New York Post.
However, just prior to the newest Missouri verdict, a California jury awarded $332 million at the end of October to a cancer patient who claimed Monsanto didn’t adequately warn about Roundup’s cancer risk. Of those damages, the jury awarded $325 million in punitive damages.
These recent large losses could prompt Bayer to rethink its legal strategy to end Roundup litigation. Despite Bayer’s offer to settle tens of thousands of cases in 2020, lawyers are still accepting Roundup claims from cancer patients and their families.
“This verdict, as with the many others over the past few months, sends a strong message to Bayer and their shareholders that this ‘continue to litigate at all costs’ policy is failing,” mass torts lawyer Trent Miracle of Flint Cooper told Drugwatch.
Bayer’s Five-Point Plan To End Roundup Litigation
In May 2021, Bayer outlined its five-point plan of action to close the Roundup litigation. The strategy involves removing glyphosate from its residential formulations of Roundup, seeking a positive ruling from the Supreme Court, promoting new safety studies, and managing current and future cases.
“Our five-point plan does not include any admission of liability or wrongdoing. Rather, the actions we are taking are a result of the mass tort system in the U.S.,” Bayer said.
In 2020, Bayer offered $10.9 billion to settle most of the Roundup cancer claims from across the country. According to the company, about 113,000 of 165,000 total claims were resolved as of Oct. 10, 2023.
About 4,239 Roundup lawsuits were still pending in California multidistrict litigation as of November 2023.
Paul Spreadbury lost his wife of 34 years, Kathy Spreadbury, to non-Hodgkin lymphoma after she used Roundup for years. He’s one of thousands of plaintiffs looking to hold Bayer and Monsanto accountable.
“Up until that time, I never fully understood what ‘pain and suffering’ really was. I hope this latest verdict causes Bayer to rethink their strategy, own up to what they did and deal with the consequences. Let it serve as a lesson to companies,” Spreadbury told Drugwatch.