Bayer CEO, Werner Baumann, has indicated to settle "financially reasonable" Roundup lawsuits during an earnings conference call conducted on July 30, as the number of lawsuits is on the rise and is affecting the company's shares.
According to a statement by Bayer, more than 5,000 cancer claims were recently added to the massive litigation, totaling the lawsuits filed in the United States to around 18,400. Baumann, during the conference call, said that he is open for settlement as long as it resolved the costly and damaging litigation for which the company was “constructively engaging” with court-appointed mediator Ken Feinberg. He also reiterated that the herbicide is safe and the lawsuits have no merit.
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is the most popular weed killer in the world. But according to the World Health Organization, the herbicide is a probable human carcinogen, following an independent review linked occupational exposure to an increased risk of cancer, especially non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and its various subtypes.
There are more than 15,000 Roundup lawsuits consolidated under multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California, presided by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria.
