Bayer paying more than $10 billion to settle Roundup lawsuits

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Settlement pays tens of thousands of plaintiffs who claim the herbicide causes cancer

U.S. PIRG

DENVER — Bayer announced a settlement on Wednesday with about 95,000 plaintiffs who alleged that glyphosate, the key ingredient in its Roundup weed killer, causes cancer. The settlement, which Bayer says will total between $10.05 billion and $10.85 billion, would include $1.25 billion to address future claims related to what it calls “outstanding Monsanto litigation.” Bayer merged with Monsanto, which has produced Roundup for decades, in 2018. The settlement comes nearly two years after a California court awarded $289 million in damages to Dewayne Johnson, a groundskeeper who sued after using Roundup on the job and developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 

Faye Park, President of U.S. PIRG, which has mounted a multi-year campaign to ban Roundup, issued the following statement:

“This settlement is an important victory for the victims of exposure to this toxic weedkiller. But Roundup is still widely available and shouldn’t be on store shelves anymore. The story that Bayer and Monsanto have pushed for years — that Roundup doesn’t cause cancer — doesn’t mesh with the experiences of thousands of people whose contact with the herbicide has irrevocably changed their lives. 

“The World Health Organization classifies glyphosate as a probable carcinogen. Never in history have people had more options to produce food or beautify their yards in ways that don’t threaten lives and the environment. But too often we default to using chemicals that are insufficiently tested for their human and ecological impacts before deployment — and too often those chemicals turn out to be dangerous. 

“This settlement is a step toward a better answer: rounding up glyphosate-based herbicides and removing them from the market.”