A US jury has ordered German pharmaceutical giant Bayer to pay about $US2.1 billion ($A3.3 billion) to a plaintiff who claimed the company’s Roundup weed killer caused his cancer, the victim’s law firm says
The verdict in the US state of Georgia, which Bayer said on Saturday it would appeal, is one of the largest legal settlements issued in a Roundup-related case and is the latest setback for the group, among the world’s largest seeds and pesticide makers.
Bayer has paid about $US10 billion ($A16 billion) to settle disputed claims that Roundup, based on the herbicide glyphosate, causes cancer.
More than 60,000 further cases are pending for which the group has set aside $US5.9 billion ($A9.4 billion) in legal provisions.
The German pharmaceutical and biotechnology group acquired Roundup as part of its $US63 billion ($A100 billion) takeover of US agrochemical company Monsanto in 2018.
The Georgia verdict includes $US65 million ($A104 million) in compensatory damages and $US2 billion ($A3.2 billion) in punitive damages, according to a statement emailed to Reuters by the plaintiff’s law firms Arnold & Itkin LLP and Kline & Specter PC.
Bayer said in a statement it disagreed with the jury’s verdict, as it conflicted with the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and the consensus of regulatory bodies and their scientific assessments worldwide.
“We believe that we have strong arguments on appeal to get this verdict overturned and the excessive and unconstitutional damage awards eliminated or reduced,” it said.
It said that damages in cases that have reached final judgements have been reduced 90 per cent overall compared with the original jury awards.
Earlier this month, Bayer told US lawmakers it could stop selling Roundup unless they strengthened legal protection against product liability litigation, a financial analyst and person close to the matter told Reuters.
https://thewest.com.au/business/economy/bayer-hit-with-33b-roundup-verdict-in-us-cancer-case-c-18127646
