U.S. Supreme Court Invites Government To Weigh In on Roundup Cancer Lawsuits

Bayer is celebrating the Court’s invitation for the current, pro-business administration to participate in its opinion.

In response to a petition for review filed by Bayer, the U.S. Supreme Court has asked the Solicitor General of the United States to weigh in on whether the manufacturer should be immune from liability in tens of thousands of Roundup cancer lawsuits.

Bayer submitted a Writ of Certiorari in April, calling on the nation’s highest court to dismiss all Roundup failure-to-warn lawsuits based on federal preemption, arguing that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would not have approved more stringent label warnings for the glyphosate-based weed killer.

For the last several years Bayer, and its Monsanto subsidiary, have faced more than 120,000 product liability lawsuits over the effects of Roundup exposure, each alleging that the manufacturer failed to provide adequate warnings that the active ingredient may cause users to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other forms of cancer.

The petition comes after the manufacturer already agreed to pay more than $10 billion in Roundup settlements to resolve claims. However, the company continues to face thousands of active lawsuits that are moving forward through the U.S. court system, and a steady stream of new claims continue to be brought by former Roundup users, who often develop cancer from the weedkiller years later.

This is Bayer’s third attempt to get the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the litigation, with the petition coming after the Missouri Supreme Court rejected a similar Roundup appeal in February over a jury verdict handed down in October 2023, which awarded John Durnell $1.25 million in damages. 

Durnell indicated at trial that he began using Roundup in 1966, as part of the Soulard Restoration Project in St. Louis. As a direct result of the exposure, he claimed that he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma several years later, and a state court jury agreed that Monsanto should be held accountable for failing to warn users about the potential risk.

According to a press release (PDF) by Bayer, the Supreme Court sent an invitation to the Solicitor General to contribute the government’s opinion on June 30. With the Trump administration being seen as extremely pro-business, Bayer is celebrating the inclusion of the administration’s participation in the legal proceedings.

“We see this request as an encouraging step and look forward to hearing the views of the government on FIFRA’s (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act) federal preemption provision, which relies on language common to several federal laws that cover a number of industries. The security and affordability of the food supply depend on companies’ and farmers’ ability to rely on decisions made by responsible federal regulatory authorities.”

-Bill Anderson, CEO of Bayer

The Supreme Court has already rejected Bayer’s Roundup appeals twice before. The company petitioned the Court to review another Roundup trial defeat, involving an $87 million verdict awarded to a California couple, Alva and Alberta Pilliod in May 2019. However, the Supreme Court refused to review the case in June 2022. 

This followed a previous refusal to review another Roundup appeal in March 2019. The Court provided no comment about the reasons why the petitions were rejected in either case, which is not uncommon.

Bayer Pursues Roundup Lawsuit Immunity in States

While it hopes for a rescue from the Supreme Court, Bayer is also pressuring states to pass legislation granting the company immunity from future Roundup lawsuits at the state level. Its efforts have already resulted in liability protections in Georgia and North Carolina, with similar measures being considered by several other states.

If these efforts do not pan out, reports indicate Bayer is considering seeking liability protection for Monsanto through the U.S. bankruptcy process, even though the company has billions of funds on hand to deal with the litigation.

To cut off the potential for future claims, Bayer also announced that it would reformulate Roundup in 2021, with plans to remove the active ingredient glyphosate from consumer versions of the weed killer. However, without additional settlements, the company is likely to continue facing new lawsuits for years, as former users develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma following use of the old Roundup formulations.