US Supreme Court scales back Roundup cancer lawsuits

WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court reined in thousands of lawsuits pursued in state courts accusing Bayer of failing to warn users that the active ingredient in its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, handing a major legal victory on Thursday to the German company.

The justices in a 7-2 decision overturned a jury verdict in Missouri awarding USD 1.25 million to a man named John Durnell who said he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after years of exposure to glyphosate in Roundup.

The Supreme Court agreed with Bayer that a US law that governs pesticides precludes failure-to-warn claims that are brought under state law from moving forward in court.

President Donald Trump’s administration backed Bayer in the case.

Bayer acquired Roundup as part of its USD 63 billion purchase of agrochemical company Monsanto in 2018. More than 100,000 plaintiffs have filed cases in US state and federal courts alleging a cancer link, and the German drugmaking and crop science company had said that the lawsuits could threaten its ability to supply the herbicide to farmers.

The torrent of litigation already prompted Bayer to remove glyphosate from its consumer version of Roundup. Bayer said before the Supreme Court ruled that a decision in its favor could largely end the Roundup litigation. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in April.

“The US Supreme Court decision is good for science, farmers, and industries that depend on regulatory clarity for innovation.