Bayer desperately wanted to settle its ongoing lawsuit with plaintiffs who claim that their herbicide Roundup — acquired from Monsanto — caused cancer in tens of thousands of people. The active ingredient in Roundup is glyphosate.
But, after a U.S. district court judge threw out Bayer’s $2 billion future settlement offer, their stock not only crashed, but the company said they will “immediately engage with partners to discuss the future of glyphosate-based products in the U.S. residential market.”
The $2 billion future settlement was proposed as part of an $11.6 billion agreement resolving approximately 125,000 current consumer and farmer cases claiming Roundup gave them non-Hodgin lymphoma. In rejecting the $2 billion offer, Judge Vince Chhabria said it was “clearly unreasonable” for consumers who had been exposed to the chemical but are not yet diagnosed with cancer.
To clarify the company’s actions, Liam Condon, head of Bayer’s crop-science unit, said there would not be a recall of the product. “What we’re discussing with our partners is the future of the active ingredient [glyphosate], that’s all.”
SOURCE: Sustainable Pulse May 27, 2021