Bayer reached a multi-step agreement to settle thousands of lawsuits alleging that its Roundup weed killer product causes cancer.
In 2018, Bayer acquired Monsanto, the maker of Roundup. The German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company discontinued the Monsanto brand and marketed its products under the Bayer name.
It was also in 2018 when Monsanto lost a case in San Francisco, California where a jury awarded $289 million to a groundkeeper named Dewane Johnson, who blamed Roundup for his disease — non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that attacks the white blood cells.
Since the verdict, thousands of U.S. consumers filed lawsuits against Bayer. The plaintiffs claimed that Roundup caused their sufferings due to cancer. They alleged that Monsanto ignored warnings and concealed that its weed killer product contains glyphosate, a cancer-causing chemical.
On Wednesday, Bayer said its multi-step agreement included a total payment of $10.1 billion to $10.9 billion to resolve existing and future litigation involving Roundup.
