On February 3, Bayer issued a press release announcing a settlement deal to resolve future legal claims worth up to $2 billion over allegations that the widely used weedkiller Roundup causes cancer.
According to the proposed plan, Monsanto’s parent company will be paying $2 billion over a period of four years to cover outreach and diagnostic assistance of individuals who have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and were exposed to Roundup prior to their diagnosis.
Under the deal, future claimers could receive up to $200,000, and the parties can consent over the settlement period. It also includes benefits for people who were exposed to Roundup and might develop cancer in the future. The plan should be approved by U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco.
An attorney for the proposed class said that as per the revised plan, one could sue in court if the claimant does not claim during the four years period, and if anyone does not like the compensation offered under the class plan, they can go to the court system and try for a better result.
The company has agreed to take permission from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to give a reference link on labels for consumers to find scientific studies about the weedkiller.
Currently, Bayer is facing more than 125,000 Roundup lawsuits, and the company has acknowledged the filing of 52,500 lawsuits. The lawsuits are consolidated under MDL No. 2741 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Roundup, which Monsanto first brought to the market in 1974, is widely used by farmers across the United States and Brazil, alongside crops that are genetically engineered to withstand its herbicidal effect.
Glyphosate, a weed-killing chemical, is the most widely used herbicide in the country. According to the National Pesticide Information Center at the University of Oregon, it is more than 750 products are sold in the united states. Even if it's a chemical, and it has been around for decades, it is of men, it is only recently that we realized that it seeps in from the farm to the dinner table.
