Bayer ordered to pay $2.25 billion in latest Roundup case

Roundup is a weedkiller that contains glyphosate, which researchers have called a "probable carcinogen." Bayer says that studies show its product is safe, and the company will appeal the verdict.

A subsidiary of German pharmaceutical giant Bayer was ordered to pay $2.25 billion (€2.07 billion) to a Pennsylvania man who said he developed cancer from exposure to the company's Roundup weedkiller.

A jury found that John McKivision developed non-Hodgkins lymphoma as a result of using Roundup for yard work over several years.

The verdict includes $2 billion in punitive damages and $250 million in compensation.

"The jury's punitive damages award sends a clear message that this multi-national corporation needs top to bottom change," Tom Kline and Jason Itkin, McKivision's attorneys, said in a joint statement.

Bayer said in a statement that it disagreed "with the jury's adverse verdict that conflicts with the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and worldwide regulatory and scientific assessments, and believe that we have strong arguments on appeal to get this verdict overturned and the unconstitutionally excessive damage award eliminated or reduced."

A spokesperson for the company told the AFP news agency that it plans to appeal the verdict.

Thousands more claims

Roundup is among the top-selling weed killers in the United States.

It was originally produced by US agrochemical company Monsanto, which Bayer acquired in 2018. Bayer phased out sales of the household version of Roundup last year.

Bayer has said that decades of studies show that Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, are safe for human use.

But in 2015, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as a "probable carcinogen."

Around 165,000 claims have been made in the US against the company for personal injuries — mainly non-Hodgkins lymphoma — that were allegedly caused by Roundup.

The company has paid out billions in various settlements in recent years.

zc/kb (Reuters, AFP)