St. Louis jury clears Bayer's Monsanto in first Roundup cancer trial since Supreme Court ruling

Jury verdict in St. Louis

A jury in St. Louis, Missouri, unanimously found for Monsanto, the Bayer-owned company that makes Roundup, in a case brought by three women. The verdict came on Thursday, 29 October. The women said they used Roundup regularly and later developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and they blamed the weedkiller for their cancers. Their lawyers argued that the product was defectively designed and unreasonably dangerous, and that Bayer was negligent in selling it. The case was filed in St. Louis in 2020, and one of the three women died before the trial began. None of the three is taking part in Bayer's proposed settlement.

Why the trial is a test

The trial was the first to reach a jury since the US Supreme Court ruled in Bayer's favor in June, in a decision the articles call the Durnell ruling. That ruling limited the legal claims plaintiffs can bring. Before it, most Roundup lawsuits argued that the label failed to warn consumers about cancer risks. The court relied on the Environmental Protection Agency's conclusion that the label does not require a cancer warning. The trial was closely watched as a test of whether Roundup suits can still succeed after that decision.

Settlement and claims ahead

About 65,000 claims are pending against Bayer in US state and federal courts. Plaintiffs in those cases say they developed cancer after using Roundup at home or on the job. Bayer is seeking a $7.25 billion (€6.5 billion) settlement covering tens of thousands of these cases, and a separate court in Missouri is still weighing that plan. Bayer acquired Monsanto in 2018, and the litigation has since cost the company billions of dollars and weighed on its share price. The Missouri court's decision on the settlement is still pending.

Bayer's response

Bill Dodero, Bayer's US general counsel and global head of litigation, said in a statement that the verdict showed how hard it will be for other plaintiffs to win after the Supreme Court decision.

“We are pleased with the jury's favorable verdict for Monsanto validating our belief that there is no evidence to prove design defect, fraud or negligence claims in the Roundup litigation.”

Bayer has denied the claims. The company maintains that decades of studies show glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is safe and does not cause cancer, calling it "one of the most studied agricultural tools in history."

Regulatory backdrop

The EPA has previously concluded that glyphosate is probably not carcinogenic, but the agency is in the middle of a new review of its safety. Plaintiffs' lawyers had argued that the Roundup label should have carried a cancer warning, a claim the Supreme Court has now restricted. Bayer continues to point to the body of scientific research on glyphosate as the basis for its defense.