A Georgia jury has ordered Bayer AG (ETR: BAYN) to pay nearly $2.1 billion in damages to a man who claimed the company’s Roundup weedkiller caused his cancer, one of the largest awards to date in years of litigation over the product.
The Friday verdict includes $65 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages to plaintiff John Barnes, who filed his lawsuit in 2021 after developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to a statement from his attorneys at Arnold & Itkin LLP and Kline & Specter PC.
Bayer said on Saturday it would appeal the decision.
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“We disagree with the jury’s verdict, as it conflicts with the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and the consensus of regulatory bodies worldwide,” the company said in a statement.
The German pharmaceutical and agriculture giant has been battling Roundup-related lawsuits since acquiring the herbicide’s original manufacturer, Monsanto, for $63 billion in 2018.
Kyle Findley, Barnes’ lead trial attorney, said that the verdict will help his client get needed treatment.
“It’s been a long road for him… and he was happy that the truth related to the product has been exposed,” Findley said, calling the verdict an “important milestone” after “another example of Monsanto’s refusal to accept responsibility.”
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The controversial ingredient in Roundup is glyphosate, which some studies have linked to cancer. The US Environmental Protection Agency, however, has maintained it is “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans when used as directed.”
Bayer has faced more than 177,000 lawsuits over Roundup and has paid about $10 billion to settle disputed claims. The company has set aside another $5.9 billion for over 60,000 pending cases.
The company said it has prevailed in 17 of the last 25 Roundup trials, and that previous damage awards have been reduced by 90% overall compared to original jury verdicts.
Earlier this month, financial analysts reported that Bayer had told US lawmakers it might stop selling Roundup unless they strengthen legal protections against product liability litigation.
The Georgia verdict follows another significant Roundup case in Philadelphia in January, which resulted in a $2.25 billion award.
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