Bayer to pay $2.25B after jury says Roundup weed killer caused cancer

Explore More

Bayer was ordered to pay $2.25 billion after a Pennsylvania jury unanimously ruled that its Roundup weed killer gave a man cancer.

John McKivinson, 49, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, sued Roundup maker Monsanto and its corporate parent, Bayer, saying he developed the cancer after using the herbicide on his property for two decades.

The massive payout includes $2 billion in punitive damages, McKivinson’s attorneys at Kline & Specter told The Post on Tuesday.

Jury members also found that Monsanto was negligent in warning customers about the dangers of Roundup,

The jury’s ruling is “a declaration that’s its misconduct was in reckless disregard of human safety and a substantial cause of John McKivison’s cancer.”

However, Bayer can appeal the damages in post-trial motions before its payout to McKivinson is finalized.

Following Friday’s verdict, Bayer released a statement saying it believes the company has “strong arguments on appeal to get this verdict overturned,” bashing the decision as conflicting “with the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and worldwide regulatory scientific assessments.”

A spokesperson for Bayer declined to comment beyond the company’s statement.

Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, also called the damages “unconstitutionally excessive,” noting that it has “a winning record in the Roundup litigation — having won 10 of the last 16 cases at trial.”

Bayer won a trial in December after a California man who said he developed cancer from exposure to its Roundup weed killer, ending a five-trial losing streak for the company — which has recently doled out more than $500 million in the previous three litigation losses.

In November, a Cole County, Mo., jury similarly found that Monsanto was liable for claims of negligence, design defects and failing to warn plaintiffs of the potential dangers of using Roundup, according to court documents.

Valorie Gunther of New York, Jimmy Draeger of Missouri and Daniel Anderson of California were awarded a combined $61.1 million in compensatory damages and $500 million each in punitive damages after alleging that Roundup caused their non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnoses.

Draeger’s wife, Brenda, was also awarded $100,000 for the harm she allegedly suffered from her husband’s disease.

Though Roundup — the most widely-used herbicide to kill weeds in the US — reportedly contains 41% glyphosate, which Bayer has repeatedly argued is safe for human use, Gunther and Draeger argued that exposure to the chemical caused the cancer.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to the Mayo Clinic, typically starts in white blood cells and causes symptoms including enlarged lymph nodes, fatigue, dramatic weight loss, trouble breathing and night sweats.

The company had been found not liable in nine consecutive trials before that.

In 2020, Bayer settled most of the then-pending Roundup cases for up to $10.9 billion.

Around 50,000 claims remain pending, according to regulatory filings.

Some 165,000 claims have been made against the company for personal injuries allegedly caused by Roundup, which Bayer acquired as part of its $63 billion purchase of agrochemical company Monsanto in 2018.

That same year marked the first time a lawsuit was filed alleging glyphosate causes cancer.

ncG1vNJzZmimqaW8tMCNnKamZ2Jlf3V7j2pmbGhfl8K0tc2eqqxnkpbGpr6MraZmqJGuenN5kW6ZZpmWqbKzecmuqbJlo5bGtHnRqKynnKWlerixxJ1kpKGcobKzecKarKydlGKworrCnqlo