A jury in Philadelphia has awarded $78 million to William Melissen, a Pennsylvania man who claims that his cancer was caused by Bayer's Roundup weedkiller.
The jury's decision came after a nearly month-long trial, during which Melissen's attorneys argued that the chemical glyphosate, found in Roundup, was responsible for his diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Bayer's Roundup Cancer Case
Melissen, along with his wife Margaret, filed their lawsuit against Bayer in 2021. He reported using Roundup regularly both at home and at work from 1992 until 2020, the year he was diagnosed with cancer.
His lawyers asserted that both glyphosate and another chemical in the product contributed to his illness. In response, Bayer has consistently claimed that glyphosate is not a carcinogen and has described the lawsuits against them as baseless, said Reuters.
This ruling comes as Bayer has faced numerous legal challenges related to Roundup in recent years. The company has had victories in 14 of the last 20 trials related to Roundup, but has also been hit with significant verdicts. In November 2022, a jury awarded $1.56 billion in damages, which was later reduced to $611 million.
In January 2023, another jury awarded $2.25 billion, but that amount was adjusted down to $400 million.
In this most recent trial, the jury awarded Melissen $3 million in compensatory damages for his suffering and $75 million in punitive damages aimed at punishing Bayer for its actions.
Following the jury's verdict, Bayer expressed its disagreement. The company stated that the decision contradicted scientific evidence and the consensus among regulatory bodies worldwide.
Bayer Seeks Appeal
Bayer is confident that it can appeal the punitive damages, as US Supreme Court precedents indicate that such damages should not exceed nine times the amount of compensatory damages.
Bayer, which acquired Roundup when it purchased the agrochemical giant Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018, has been working to resolve thousands of lawsuits related to the weedkiller.
In 2020, Bayer agreed to pay $10.9 billion to settle many of these claims but continues to face about 58,000 ongoing lawsuits, according to Philadelphia Inquirer.
In August, Bayer achieved a legal victory when the US Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled that federal law protects the company from state law claims related to Roundup.
Bayer is now seeking to bring this matter before the US Supreme Court, hoping for a ruling that could potentially end ongoing litigation related to the product.
