Bayer loses again in glyphosate trial
Bayer has suffered another defeat in the glyphosate litigation in the USA. On Tuesday, a jury in Philadelphia ordered the company to pay 3.5 million dollars to a woman who attributed her cancer to Bayer's Roundup weedkiller containing glyphosate.
The ruling by the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas could increase investor pressure on the company to quickly settle thousands of similar Roundup lawsuits to avoid further large court judgments.
Prior to the ruling in Philadelphia, the Leverkusen-based pharmaceutical and agricultural company had lost four lawsuits within a short period of time - the most recent involving a payment of 1.56 billion dollars - after Bayer had previously won nine lawsuits in a row. Bayer has announced that it will appeal.
Like most plaintiffs in Roundup cases, Pennsylvania resident Kelly Martel alleged in the most recent case in Philadelphia that she developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a malignant disease of the lymphatic tissue, as a result of exposure to Roundup.
According to Bayer, 52,000 of the approximately 165,000 lawsuits filed were still outstanding. The company had brought the lawsuits into the company with the takeover of glyphosate developer Monsanto. Bayer has always rejected the accusations against the herbicide. Authorities worldwide have classified the product as non-carcinogenic. The World Health Organization's cancer research agency IARC, however, classified the active ingredient as "probably carcinogenic" in 2015.
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Bayer faces mounting pressure to settle other glyphosate cancer lawsuits following another multi-million dollar verdict in the glyphosate trial. The Philadelphia jury's decision to hold Bayer liable for a woman's cancer, linked to Bayer's Roundup weedkiller with glyphosate, could lead to a wave of similar court rulings.
Despite Bayer consistently denying the accusations against Roundup and claiming worldwide regulatory classification of the product as non-carcinogenic, cancer research agencies like the IARC have classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic."
Source: www.ntv.de
