The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with Bayer, the maker of Roundup weedkiller, in a decision expected to block thousands of lawsuits alleging the product causes cancer. The ruling stated that the company cannot be sued in state courts because federal regulations have found a cancer link unlikely.
The case before the court involved a Missouri resident, John Durnell, who developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after using Roundup for over two decades. A jury had previously agreed that Bayer failed to warn Durnell about potential cancer dangers and awarded him $1.25 million, but this decision is now subject to the Supreme Court's ruling.
The legal challenges against Roundup intensified after Bayer acquired its original manufacturer, Monsanto, in 2018. Thousands of similar lawsuits have been filed, with some resulting in multibillion-dollar damage awards.
There remains a significant debate regarding the link between cancer and glyphosate, Roundup's primary ingredient. In 2015, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic.” However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that it is not likely to cause cancer in humans when used as directed and approved a label without a cancer warning.
Bayer maintains that it is required to adhere to federal standards rather than state laws under which plaintiffs have sued. The company has previously set aside $16 billion to settle Roundup-related cases and recently proposed a $7.25 billion class-action settlement. Despite these efforts, a federal judge directed that the proposed settlement would be heard in a Missouri state court, where many of the lawsuits are filed.
Bayer has also sought to have states enact laws shielding it from liability in failure-to-warn lawsuits, with three states having agreed to such measures. Approximately 200,000 Roundup-related claims have been submitted against Bayer, predominantly from residential users. The company has ceased using glyphosate in Roundup products sold for the U.S. residential lawn and garden market.
Industry groups have warned that continued litigation could force Bayer to consider withdrawing glyphosate from U.S. agricultural markets, potentially impacting the food supply. The ruling also touches on political divisions, including those between the Trump administration and health advocates concerned about pesticide use.