Agriculture – Bayer wants to appeal two rulings related to glyphosate in the USA – Economy

Philadelphia (dpa) – A new problem faces Bayer in the US legal dispute over the alleged cancer risks of herbicides containing glyphosate: after a jury in Philadelphia recently awarded 83-year-old Ernie Caranci, who blamed glyphosate for his… Cancer, $25 million in compensation. Compensation and $150 million After the award of punitive damages, Bayer announced that it would appeal this ruling and another ruling that was negative for the company. There were two court defeats within a week after DAX Group previously won nine cases.

Bayer also stresses that it remains convinced of the safety of glyphosate. The extent of damages could still be reduced in the latter case. Lay juries in the USA often award large sums to plaintiffs, which are often reduced by judges.

Bayer addressed issues surrounding the weedkiller Roundup, which contains glyphosate, in 2018 with its $60 billion acquisition of Monsanto. In the same year, the first ruling was issued against the DAX Group, which led to a wave of lawsuits in the United States of America. In 2020, Bayer launched a $1 billion program to settle the majority of the lawsuits — without admitting liability.

Bayer has already handled the majority of the lawsuits. In the spring, when business figures for 2022 were presented, it was said that out of a total of around 154,000 registered claims, around 109,000 were comparable or did not meet the comparison criteria. In addition, Bayer – as of the end of 2022 – can count on a cushion of US$6.4 billion, which the group has set aside for settlements of existing and future glyphosate lawsuits.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:231030-99-757164/4