Bayer AG's bid to dismiss legal claims brought by Roundup weedkiller users who claim that the product causes cancer has been denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The company's move is focused to avoid the payment of billions of dollars in damages that are required to pay in the ongoing Roundup litigation. Bayer has appealed the verdict announced in the lower court, where the company was ordered to pay $25 million in damages to a Californian resident who alleged that the pharmaceutical and chemical giant's glyphosate-based weedkillers caused cancer in him.
Bayer is trying to limit its legal liability in thousands of cases. Hence, the Supreme Court will closely watch the company's move before deciding on whether to take up the appeal. Former U.S. President Donald Trump supported Bayer by asking the court to hear the appeal, but the current President Joe Biden's administration urged to reject the plea.
So far, Bayer has won three trials over its Roundup weedkiller, where the users have been rewarded tens of millions of dollars in each lawsuit.
Bayer has even asked the Supreme Court to review another verdict which was upheld by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in May 2021. The plaintiff involved in this lawsuit alleged that he used Roundup for 26 years at his home in northern California, eventually resulting in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma for him.
Bayer claimed that their product was considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, citing that the cancer warning was not required to be printed on the products. The company claims that it cannot be penalized as the products were EPA verified.
