Roundup weed killing products are offered for sale at a home improvement store on May 14, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
Bayer will pay more than $10 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits regarding claims that its herbicide Roundup causes cancer, the company announced Wednesday.
Monsanto, which Bayer bought in 2018, lost a lawsuit that same year brought by a school groundskeeper who claimed its weedkiller had caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Since then, thousands of U.S. lawsuits have been filed against the company.
Bayer CEO Werner Baumann called the decision to settle the lawsuits the right one in order to end a long period of uncertainty.
“The decision to resolve the Roundup litigation enables us to focus fully on the critical supply of health care and food,” he said in statement. “It will also return the conversation about the safety and utility of glyphosate-based herbicides to the scientific and regulatory arena and to the full body of science.”
The settlement, however, does not contain any admission of wrongdoing or liability.
Bayer will pay $8.8 billion to $9.6 billion to settle existing lawsuits and then another $1.25 billion that will cover any potential litigation in the future, the company said in a press release Wednesday.
Kenneth Feinberg, a court-appointed mediator for the settlement, called the deal a “constructive and reasonable” resolution.
“The significant progress made to date — which exceeds the initial participation rates of other claims resolution proceedings — provides a robust framework that will enable the parties to bring closure to the current Roundup litigation in due course,” he said in the statement from Bayer.
More from NBC News:
Lawsuits allege that Monsanto ignored warnings that its herbicide contained potentially cancer-causing chemicals, then concealed the threat to consumers.
A jury awarded the California groundskeeper, Dewayne Johnson, nearly $290 million in damages in August 2018 after it found Monsanto failed to warn Johnson and other consumers about the risks posed by its weed-killing products. A judge upheld the decision upon appeal, but lowered the damages to $78 million due to what she considered an overreach in punitive damages decided by the jury.
And last year, a California jury awarded a husband and wife more than $2 billion in damages in a suit that claimed Roundup caused their illness.
German pharmaceuticals and chemical giant Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018 just months before Johnson won his suit against the company. Bayer eliminated the Monsanto name, but maintained the brands and folded them into its portfolio.
Related Post
Feb
How a Growing Crisis of Loneliness Is Affecting Americans Health
America has another scourge. It can't be dealt with utilizing conventional treatments despite the fact that it has crippling and, surprisingly, dangerous outcomes. The issue leaking in at the sides of our networks is depression and U.S. Top health spokesperson Dr..
Read MoreFeb
The Cost of Loneliness in Retirement
While we frequently stress over saving enough for retirement, the expense of depression is ascending as an equivalent danger to a blissful, solid retirement. Yet, there are steps you can take now to fabricate your social capital. Depression and social confinement.
Read MoreFeb
10 Ways to Reduce Your Risk of Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal malignant growth is the subsequent driving reason for disease related passings, influencing millions around the world. As per the American Malignant growth Society, around 1 out of 20 individuals will be determined to have colorectal disease during their lifetime..
Read MoreFeb
10 Signs You May Need Mental Health Treatment
Emotional well-being is really significant for our general wellbeing and prosperity. Psychological well-being influences the manner in which we think, feel, act, and affects others in our lives also. Psychological well-being can be affected by the climate, hereditary qualities, and.
Read More