By Ryan Hanrahan
The Wall Street Journal’s Patrick Thomas reported that “Roundup’s time may be up. Pharmaceutical and agriculture conglomerate Bayer said it could stop producing the world’s most popular weedkiller, unless it gets court protection against lawsuits blaming the herbicide for causing cancer.”
“Roundup has generated tens of billions of dollars in sales over time for Bayer and Monsanto, the biotech seed giant and developer of Roundup that Bayer acquired in 2018,” Thomas reported. “Bayer currently produces about 40% of the world’s glyphosate, which farmers spray across fields to tame crop-threatening weeds.”
“But over the past decade, the herbicide has also brought Bayer a wave of litigation, pressuring its share price and costing about $10 billion in payouts to plaintiffs,” Thomas reported. “In early March, Bayer told farmers, suppliers and retailers that it may stop selling Roundup, which would leave U.S. farmers reliant on imported glyphosate from China.”
“‘We’re pretty much reaching the end of the road,’ Bayer Chief Executive Bill Anderson said in an interview,” according to Thomas’ reporting. “‘We’re talking months, not years.'”
“Since taking over as Bayer’s CEO in 2023, Anderson has said one of his goals is to get the glyphosate litigation under control by 2026. He said that in some years, Roundup-related litigation expenses eclipse Bayer’s agriculture research-and-development budget,” Thomas reported. “‘We barely break even on glyphosate production and distribution, and if you then factor in litigation, you’re talking $2 billion to $3 billion in losses a year,’ Anderson said. Bayer said it brought in $2.8 billion from glyphosate sales last year.”
Bayer Continues to Lobby State Legislatures
Reuters’ Rachel More reported Thursday that “Bayer is lobbying U.S. states to adjust their regulations in the battle to control costly litigation targeting its herbicide glyphosate but is also prepared for a possible exit from the market, the group’s CEO said on Thursday.”
“Facing weak earnings, rising legal costs and a lagging share price, Bayer hopes the strategy will provide it with a way to stem damages out of court, having already paid about $10 billion to settle disputed claims that Roundup, its weedkiller based on glyphosate, causes cancer,” More reported. “‘We’re making this case to lawmakers, and we appreciate the bi-partisan support we see,’ Chief Executive Bill Anderson said in a transcript of his speech for the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting on April 25.”
“Georgia and North Dakota have already passed legislation, Anderson said, adding: ‘we hope other states follow their lead,'” More reported. “Bills recently passed in both states on pesticide labelling have yet to be passed into law by the governors.”
Bayer Has Even Approached the Supreme Court
The Associated Press’ David A. Lieb reported at the beginning of April that “global agrochemical manufacturer Bayer has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether federal law preempts thousands of state lawsuits alleging it failed to warn people that its popular weedkiller could cause cancer.”
“Bayer’s new request to the nation’s highest court comes as it is simultaneously pursing legislation in several states seeking to erect a legal shield against lawsuits targeting Roundup, a commonly used weedkiller for both farms and homes,” Lieb reported. “Bayer disputes the cancer claims but has set aside $16 billion to settle cases and asserted Monday that the future of American agriculture is at stake.”
“In a court filing Friday, Bayer urged the Supreme Court to take up a Missouri case that awarded $1.25 million to a man who developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after spraying Roundup on a community garden in St. Louis,” Lieb reported. “The federally approved label for Roundup includes no warning of cancer. Bayer contends federal pesticide laws preempt states from adopting additional labeling for products and thus prohibits failure-to-warn lawsuits brought under state laws.”
“The Supreme Court in 2022 declined to hear a similar claim from Bayer in a California case that awarded more than $86 million to a married couple,” Lieb reported. “But Germany-based Bayer, which acquired Roundup maker Monsanto in 2018, contends the Supreme Court should intervene now because lower courts have issued conflicting rulings.”
Source : illinois.edu