“Carcinogenic” sanction imposed on a German pharmaceutical company in the US

The German chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer lost a lawsuit filed in the United States over its controversial agricultural product, the herbicide glyphosate.

In the United States, plaintiff John Durnell filed a lawsuit against the German company in a court in St Louis, Missouri, alleging that the substance glyphosate contained in the weed drug Roundup caused cancer.

In court, the jury decided Friday that Bayer should pay $1,250,000 to John Durnell. Durnell’s attorney, Wylie Blair, said the case was the first to show that chemicals other than the main ingredient, glyphosate, can cause cancer.

WILL GO TO THE HIGH COURT

Bayer’s statement said the company would appeal the decision to a higher court.

After Bayer acquired the US agricultural company Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018, it was ordered to pay billions of dollars in fines and damages in lawsuits brought by those who claimed that the glyphosate-containing pesticide developed by the company, called Roundup, was an important element that triggered the formation of cancer.

While Bayer denied the glyphosate claims, in 2015 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as carcinogenic.

Bayer announced that it had settled lawsuits filed against it in the United States in 2020 and that $10.9 billion would be paid to the plaintiffs. Despite the agreement, the company faces approximately 40,000 lawsuits related to Roundup. (AA)