At this point in time, there are some 30,000 ongoing lawsuits involving Roundup, which has injured and killed potentially millions of people due to its persistent toxicity. Bayer and Monsanto both deny that their chemical concoction is anything other than "safe and effective," but the legal system seems to actually be siding with the people for once.
Because of this, Bayer is considering withdrawing the Roundup product, along with other glyphosate-based weedkillers, from the United States in order to save itself from a steady stream of likely never-ending legal claims.
Bayer had hoped the $2 billion settlement – a drop in the bucket compared to its overall profits from Roundup – would be applied, allowing the company to continue selling its poisonous formulas to farmers and backyard gardeners without issue. It would appear as though Bayer is instead having to face the music.
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco called Bayer's settlement scheme "clearly unreasonable," as it would forever shield the company from all future liability for its glyphosate-based products.
Bayer, on the other hand, claims that its rejected settlement proposal was "designed to help the company achieve a level of risk mitigation that is comparable to the previously proposed national class solution."
If you've been injured by Roundup, you, too, can file a lawsuit against Bayer-Monsanto
The Trump administration, as you may recall, attempted to fight on behalf of Bayer last year by pushing to overturn a landmark ruling that found Monsanto, the original creator of glyphosate, guilty of chemical violence against humanity.
Trump's people sought to shield Monsanto of all criminal convictions, as well as relinquish the multi-million-dollar damages that the company was ordered to pay to all the people who were injured or killed by its herbicides.
That scheme apparently failed, and now Bayer is facing a litany of litigation that many are hoping will bankrupt the company. Bayer has already agreed to pay out some $9.6 billion in settlement money to tens of thousands of claims, and many more are still awaiting their day in court as well.
Because the cancer-causing effects of glyphosate can take upwards of 10-15 years to manifest, Bayer knows that this is only just the start of a long line of lawsuits that will extend into perpetuity. The company purchased and absorbed Monsanto into itself back in 2018 for $63 billion.
To avoid any future problems for itself, Bayer may stop selling Roundup to consumers entirely – though it does plan to continue selling the deadly product for agricultural users, meaning it will still be on the food you eat.
Bayer may also choose to include a label on glyphosate-containing products sold to consumers that says they are "probably carcinogenic to humans." This was the determination made by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The U.S. Supreme Court, which was packed by Trump with "conservatives," decided not long ago that all Roundup litigation cases are barred simply because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared Roundup to be "safe for humans." There is no indication as of yet if Bayer will get a case before the highest court.
"The agreement that Chhabria rejected would have paused litigation linking Roundup to non-Hodgkin lymphoma for four years and would have barred Roundup users from seeking punitive damages once the pause on litigation expired," Reuters reports.
More related news about the deadly impact of glyphosate and Roundup can be found at Glyphosate.news.
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