Bayer has announced it will pay more than $10 billion to settle about 125,000 claims that Roundup weed killer causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The settlement, which Bayer estimates will be anywhere from $10.1 billion to $10.9 billion, would end roughly 75% of the Roundup cases, the company said. The deal includes all litigation brought by law firms leading the federal multidistrict litigation as well as California state court cases.

The figure includes $1.25 billion for potential future claims from Roundup users who may develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the future, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“First and foremost, the Roundup settlement is the right action at the right time for Bayer to bring a long period of uncertainty to an end,” Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said in a statement.

“It resolves most current claims and puts in place a clear mechanism to manage risks of potential future litigation. It is financially reasonable when viewed against the significant financial risks of continued, multi-year litigation and the related impacts to our reputation and to our business.

“The decision to resolve the Roundup litigation enables us to focus fully on the critical supply of healthcare and food,” Baumann continued. “It will also return the conversation about the safety and utility of glyphosate-based herbicides to the scientific and regulatory arena and to the full body of science.”

Bayer also said it is paying up to $1.22 billion to settle two cases involving polychlorinated biphenyl in water and up to $400 million to settle cases involving the weed killer dicamba drifting and killing plants not bred to resist it, according to Time magazine.

Bayer said one of the agreements establishes a Class including all local governments with Environmental Protection Agency permits involving water discharges impaired by PCBs; the company will pay the Class about $650 million, subject to court approval.

The company has also entered into separate agreements with the attorneys general of New Mexico, Washington and the District of Columbia to resolve PCB claims. Those agreements are separate from the Class, and the company will make payments totaling about $170 million. Monsanto legally manufactured PCBs until 1977.

Investors had previously said a settlement in the $10 billion range “would be viewed as a good deal for the company,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Roundup, also known as glyphosate, is a weed killer first introduced for commercial use in 1974 by Monsanto. It works by blocking the essential proteins that help weeds grow. In 1985, the EPA found tumors in mice that had been exposed to glyphosate, leading the agency to classify the chemical as a possible carcinogen.

In March 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared glyphosate a probable carcinogen. The IARC reportedly found evidence connecting exposure to the chemical with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 

Additionally, research by the University of Washington recently found a person’s risk of developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma may be increased by 41% if they are exposed to glyphosate.

Glyphosate exposure may be linked to several illnesses, including lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma, bone cancer and kidney cancer.

When Bayer acquired Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018, it also acquired thousands of lawsuits. 

The lawsuits alleged that Monsanto ignored the warnings about potentially cancer-causing chemicals in Roundup and concealed that threat from consumers.

Three losses in front of juries sent Bayer shares tumbling and prompted shareholder anger at the company’s management.

In 2018, a jury awarded California groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson nearly $290 million in damages after it found Monsanto failed to warn him and other consumers about the weed killer’s risks. A judge upheld that decision upon appeal, but lowered the amount awarded to $78 million.

A California jury in 2019 awarded a couple more than $2 billion in damages after the husband and wife claimed Roundup caused their illness; that award was also reduced, to $87 million.

A Washington lawyer who oversaw the mediation process, told The New York Times that he expects most current plaintiffs will join the settlement.

“In my experience, all those cases that have not yet been settled will quickly be resolved by settlement,” counsel said. “I will be surprised if there are any future trials.”

The lawyer said the coronavirus pandemic may have helped speed the agreement along after courts across the country were closed.

“The pandemic worked to the advantage of settlement because the threat of a scheduled trial was unavailable,” counsel said.

Class Members involved this week’s settlement will receive payments of $5,000 to $250,000, two people close to the negotiations told The New York Times.

Bayer said payments will begin this year and will be financed through “existing surplus liquidity, future free cash flows, the proceeds from the Animal Health divestment, and additional bond issuances.”

Join a Roundup Weed Killer Cancer Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

You may qualify for this Roundup cancer lawsuit investigation if you were diagnosed with one of these conditions after using Roundup:

• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• B-cell lymphoma
• T-cell lymphoma
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
• Hairy cell lymphoma

See if you qualify by filling out the form on this page for a case evaluation with an experienced Roundup lawsuit attorney. 

Get a Case Evaluation

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.