Last Tuesday, the Supreme Court of the United States rejected an appeal by Monsanto, owned by the German group Bayer, definitively ratifying the ruling that condemned it to pay US$ 25 million to a retiree who attributes his cancer to the herbicide Roundup.
The court has not justified its decision, which may have serious consequences for the group, the subject of more than 30,000 similar complaints. Bayer claims to have set aside an additional US$ 4.5 billion to deal with further legal proceedings.
After the announcement, Bayer shares fell 4.07% to € 60.79 (US$ 64.18) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. “Bayer respectfully disagrees with the Supreme Court’s decision”, but “is fully prepared to face the legal risk associated with possible future claims in the United States”, the group reacted in a statement.
The company says it “admits no fault or liability” and “continues to support its Roundup products, a valuable tool for efficient agricultural production around the world”. The court’s decision not to intervene leaves Monsanto’s conviction on appeal in the complaint filed by Edwin Hardeman, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2015.
Edwin Hardeman was one of the first to sue Monsanto, claiming his cancer was due to the herbicide he used on his property for 25 years, and accusing the group of misleading users by claiming glyphosate was harmless.
Monsanto insists that no study has concluded that Roundup, which has been on the market since the 1970s, and glyphosate are dangerous. The German group Bayer bought the American Monsanto in 2018 for US$ 63 billion (€ 59.6 billion).
