The company behind Roundup weedkiller herbicide was ordered to pay more than $2 billion in a man’s cancer lawsuit.
According to his attorneys, John Barnes developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after using Monsanto’s Roundup for two decades.
The case resulted in a $2.065 billion verdict, Barnes’s lawyers said. The Associated Press reported that Bayer, the parent company for Monsanto, was ordered to pay $65 million to compensate Barnes and an additional $2 billion in punitive damages by a Georgia jury. Monsanto is appealing the ruling.
Thousands of cases have alleged that Roundup causes cancer. Monsanto has maintained that it does not.
“We believe that we have strong arguments on appeal to get this verdict overturned and the excessive and unconstitutional damage awards eliminated or reduced,” said a statement from the company.
“The Company remains committed to trying cases, having secured favorable outcomes in 17 of the last 25 trials. Our track record demonstrates that we win when plaintiffs’ attorneys and their experts are not allowed to misrepresent the worldwide regulatory and scientific assessments that continue to support the products’ safety. Damages in cases that have reached final judgments have been reduced 90% overall compared with the original jury awards,” it added.
Under the last Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found no risks to human health from key Roundup ingredient glyphosate. However, a court in 2022 ordered the EPA to review its finding that glyphosate does not pose an unreasonable cancer risk.
