Bayer AG asked the U.S. Supreme Court for a review of a case in which it claimed that its glyphosate-based herbicides cause cancer. This is the second petition by Bayer AG to the court in less than one year.
A California court has ruled in favor of the German pharmaceutical and chemical firm. It awarded nearly $87 million to Alberta Pilliod and Alva Pilliod. They were both diagnosed with cancer after they used Roundup for more than three decades.
The couple was initially awarded more than $2B by a jury, but the judge reduced it later.
Bayer could be subject to billions in damages due to thousands of lawsuits alleging Roundup is cancer-causing.
According to the company, the lawsuits should not be filed because federal regulators have deemed the weedkiller safe.
The Supreme Court is currently deciding whether it will hear Bayer’s appeal to overturn a $25M award made by a California court to Roundup user Edwin Hardeman. In December, the Biden administration was questioned for its opinions.
Bayer was responsible for the lawsuits after it bought Roundup in 2018 as part of Monsanto’s $63 billion acquisition of pesticides and seeds maker Monsanto.
Bayer stated last year that it would reserve $4.5 billion to fund weedkiller litigation in the event of a failure by its Supreme Court appeals.
Bayer argued in both Supreme Court petitions that plaintiffs’ claims of cancer were contrary to sound science and were invalidated by Roundup regulatory clearance.
A new petition challenges the Constitution by claiming that punitive damages should be awarded for more than compensatory damages.
Bayer intends to replace glyphosate with other active ingredients in weedkillers intended for residential use in the United States. Bayer plans to sell the product to farmers who heavily rely on it and play a minimal role in the litigation.
from lawyers.buzz https://lawyers.buzz/bayer-ask-supreme-court-for-review-in-roundup-case/203/
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