Dhe chemical company Bayer has won another lawsuit in the USA about the alleged cancer risks of the weed killer glyphosate. The jury of a court in Kansas City, Missouri ruled in favor of the Dax company on Thursday (local time) and ruled that the herbicide was not responsible for the illness of the plaintiff Allan Shelton. Bayer welcomed this, but at the same time expressed sympathy to Shelton.
Bayer took on major legal risks in 2018 with the $60 billion purchase of US seed giant Monsanto, which produces the controversial weed killer Roundup containing glyphosate. The agrochemical and pharmaceutical company has now prevailed in three glyphosate processes in a row in the USA, but previously also lost three processes in a row. The Leverkusen team is faced with numerous other similar US lawsuits.
—
— (–)
For detailed view
A decision by the US Supreme Court on the acceptance of a case in which Bayer received a guilty verdict in 2019 is expected to be important for the further development of this major legal construction site. The people of Leverkusen hope that the Supreme Court will review and overturn the verdict – which would have a signal effect on the many other proceedings. Recently, however, it did not look like it, the US government advised the judges not to accept the case.
In the event that the Supreme Court does not want to deal with the glyphosate case or ultimately decides against Bayer, the company had made additional provisions of 4.5 billion dollars last summer. The company then plans to use this money to set up a program to deal with the claims of potential new plaintiffs in the USA over the next 15 years. According to Bayer, Roundup is safe when used as directed.
