Bayer CEO Tells Investors Company Hopes Roundup Lawsuit Protections Written into U.S. Laws

In a recent earnings call with investors, the head of Bayer warned that the company is continuing to struggle under the weight of litigation from a massive number of Roundup lawsuits, but indicated that it hopes changes to U.S. laws may absolve the company from future liability for failing to warn consumers about the risk of non-Hodgkins lymphoma from the popular weed killer.

Bayer and its Monsanto subsidiary have faced more than 120,000 Roundup non-Hodgkins lymphoma lawsuits over the past decade, each raising similar allegations that the manufacturers knew about the cancer risks associated with glyphosate in the weedkiller, but continued to promote use of the product in an agricultural setting or around the home, without disclosing information on the product label.

Although they have paid more than $10 billion in Roundup settlements, the manufacturers continue face thousands of active lawsuits pending throughout the U.S. court system, and new claims continue to be filed as former users of the weed killer develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other forms of cancer.

On August 6, Bayer issued its second quarter earnings report, with CEO William N. Anderson confirming recent reports of Bayer trying to push legislation at the state and federal level that would shield the company from lawsuits by former Roundup users who say the herbicide caused them to develop cancer, according to a recent report from Seeking Alpha.

Anderson reportedly told investors that the company is partnering with the agricultural industry to present the legislation as important for jobs and global food security. He indicated much of that effort will go toward the passage of a new Farm bill, which Bayer is pushing to include provisions granting Roundup some level of legal immunity.

The current draft of the Farm Bill, a massive package of legislation presented about every five years that sets the course for regulation of the agricultural industry in the U.S., includes a provision calling for the federal government to establish uniform pesticide labeling laws. This would prevent states from having their own laws to protect citizens from Roundup and other pesticides or herbicides, when they feel the federal government has not done enough.

While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has previously said Roundup is safe, that analysis is disputed by the World Health Organization (WHO), which has determined that the active ingredient glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen. However, some other states, such as California, agree with WHO’s assessment, and have ordered cancer warnings be added to the labels, which Bayer has resisted in court.

Bayer has also lobbied for such protections in major agricultural states. Earlier this year, several Idaho lawmakers introduced legislation in that state which would make it harder for citizens injured by Roundup exposure to file claims against the company. Officials from the company testified in support of the Idaho measure in February.

It is unclear, particularly in an election year, when or in what shape the federal Farm Bill will be passed.

August 2024 Roundup Lawsuit Update

After failing to secure dismissal of Roundup lawsuits under federal preemption arguments previously raised, which were rejected earlier this year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, hundreds of claims brought at the federal court level are currently being prepared for trials nationwide. However, most of the U.S. litigation is pending in state courts, including Missouri, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California, where a series of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma lawsuits are already scheduled to go before juries in the coming months.

Although Bayer continues to defend the safety of glyphosate, the company has failed to establish that it can consistently defend the safety of the herbicide at trial, suffering a string of massive losses in state court trials over the past year, including the largest Roundup lawsuit verdict to date, $2.2 billion, handed down by a Pennsylvania state court jury in January. It was later reduced to $400 million. That verdict was preceded by a $1.5 billion verdict in November 2023, and a slew of others plaintiff victories last year.

To limit liability from the Roundup failure to warn lawsuits, Bayer has announced that it will remove the active ingredient glyphosate from consumer products, while keeping the formulation for large agricultural users. However, it is still expected that Bayer will continue to face a steady stream of trials for years to come.