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A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday slashed a $2.25 billion verdict awarded to a cancer patient who claimed Monsanto's glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup contributed to his lymphoma, reducing the jury's 10-figure damages award to $404 million after the Bayer AG subsidiary argued that the initial award was "unconstitutionally excessive."

In a one-page order, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Susan I. Schulman scrapped the $250 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages initially awarded to plaintiff John McKivison of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Instead, the judge awarded McKivison $50 million in compensatory damages and $350 million in punitive damages, while adding another $4 million to the award in "delay damages."

The weekslong trial, which concluded in January, is the latest bellwether case to go to trial in Philadelphia's mass tort over Monsanto's controversial weed killer, which has been the target of more than 100,000 personal injury claims in recent years over its active ingredient's alleged links to cancer. The jury's $2.25 billion verdict followed separate $3.5 million and $175 million jury verdicts against Monsanto. A fourth Roundup trial resulted in a verdict in favor of Monsanto.

In McKivison's case, a 12-member jury deliberated for only an hour before returning the eye-popping verdict against the agrochemical giant, which Germany-based Bayer acquired in 2019 for roughly $62 billion.

Following the verdict, Monsanto's counsel asked the court to issue a remittitur reducing the award, which defense attorneys claimed was "orders of magnitude" greater than in similar cases.

Monsanto's lawyers argued that the verdict was the result of the judge permitting improper testimony and statements by McKivison's lawyers. Monsanto particularly took issue with arguments that McKivison's cancer diagnosis was a death sentence, even though his cancer has since been found to be in remission.

In her order Tuesday, Judge Schulman didn't elaborate on her reasoning in deciding to cut the verdict.

Monsanto said in a statement Tuesday that the company still plans to appeal the liability verdict, and that the trial was "marred by significant and reversible errors that misled and inflamed the jury."

"There is no other explanation for the excessive damage awards," the statement said. "These errors reinforce the urgent need for legislative reform to clarify that compliance with labels required under federal law is sufficient to meet all state warning requirements."

Counsel for McKivison, Tom Kline of Kline & Specter PC and Jason Itkin of Arnold & Itkin LLP, said in a joint statement Tuesday that they are pleased that the trial judge has overruled Monsanto's numerous attempts to "derail the clear message behind the jury's verdict — namely that Roundup causes cancer and Monsanto is liable for its reckless conduct."

"However, we also believe the reduction of the jury's verdict is a clear departure from established Pennsylvania law that we plan to appeal seeking reinstatement of the jury's damage award to compensate John McKivison and deter Monsanto's unapologetic behavior for selling its carcinogenic product to unsuspecting consumers," they said.

McKivison's award isn't the first 10-figure verdict against Monsanto that courts have reduced.

Last year, a Missouri jury awarded $1.56 billion to three people who claimed their cancer was caused by Roundup, but a Missouri state judge later reduced the damages award to just $611 million.

And a jury in Oakland, California, awarded plaintiffs Alva and Alberta Pilliod $2.06 billion in May 2019 after a jury found Roundup likely caused their cancers, but a state judge later slashed that award to $86.7 million.

Monsanto has been litigating product liability claims over Roundup for years. The company has already agreed to pay $9.6 billion to settle hundreds of thousands of claims in multidistrict litigation in 2020, but the federal judge overseeing that litigation refused to let the company settle future claims.

McKivison is represented by Charles Becker, Thomas R. Kline and Tobi L. Millrood of Kline & Specter PC and Jason Itkin of Arnold & Itkin LLP.

The defendants are represented by Michael Hofmann of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, Chanda A. Miller of Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Joseph H. Blum, Katelyn A. Romeo, Nicolai Schurko and Erin L. Leffler of Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP and Anthony Upshaw of McDermott Will & Emery LLP.

The case is John McKivison v. Monsanto et al., case number 220100337, in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.