Legal Woes Mount for Bayer As Roundup Weed Killer-Related Cancer Cases Continue, Faces Third Trial Loss

Bayer AG BAYRY BAYZF faces another legal setback as a California jury has ruled in favor of a plaintiff who claimed that the company's Roundup weed killer caused his cancer. 

The jury has ordered Bayer to pay $332 million in damages, marking the third trial loss for the company this month.

The verdict, which includes $7 million in compensatory damages and a substantial $325 million in punitive damages, was awarded to Mike Dennis, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 51. 

The punitive damage award is likely to be significantly reduced, as the U.S. Supreme Court has established guidelines for punitive damages being less than ten times the compensatory damages in most cases.

While the jury found Bayer liable on two of the four legal claims, it also determined that the company had failed to warn about the risks associated with Roundup adequately. However, they did not consider the product to be negligently designed.

In response to the verdict, Bayer stated they have strong grounds for appeal, aiming to overturn the decision and reduce the excessive damage award. They argue that significant legal and evidentiary errors occurred during the trial.

This case follows a series of recent legal losses for Bayer, with verdicts of $175 million and $1.25 million in two separate Roundup trials earlier this month, Bloomberg noted. Before this, the company had won nine consecutive trials regarding similar claims.

The ongoing Roundup-related lawsuits have plagued Bayer since it acquired Monsanto in 2018. Although the company settled most of the Roundup claims in 2020 for up to $10.9 billion, it still faces approximately 40,000 pending Roundup-related cases, Reuters noted.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors