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Judge cuts Bayer $2.25 billion Roundup decision to $400 million

A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday slashed a $2.25 billion U.S. verdict against Bayer to $400 million for a Pennsylvania male who stated he developed cancer from exposure to the company's Roundup weedkiller.

A jury in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas discovered that John McKivison's non-Hodgkins lymphoma was the outcome of using Roundup for backyard work at his home for numerous years, and it purchased Bayer to pay $250 million in compensatory damages and $2. billion in punitive damages.

Judge Susan Schulman granted some of Bayer's post-trial. movements challenging that verdict, decreasing offsetting damages. to $50 million and punitive damages to $350 million.

Bayer stated it would continue to appeal to the Superior Court. of Pennsylvania, challenging the trial court's decision to allow. the jury to hear what it called deceptive and inflammatory. testimony.

While the court's choice decreases the unconstitutionally. extreme damage award, we still disagree with the ruling on the. liability verdict, as the trial was marred by substantial and. reversible mistakes, a Bayer spokesperson stated on Tuesday.

Bayer also required U.S. legal reform to secure. business whose products comply with federal labeling. requirements.

McKivison's attorneys, Tom Kline and Jason Itkin, stated they. were delighted that Schulman supported the jury's finding that. Roundup causes cancer. But they also intend to appeal, seeking a. reinstatement of the $2.25 billion jury verdict.

The decrease of the quantity of the jury's verdict is a. clear departure from established Pennsylvania law that we plan. to address in an appeal, Kline and Itkin stated in a joint. declaration.

Bayer has actually stated that years of studies have revealed Roundup. and its active component, glyphosate, are safe for human usage. Roundup is among the most extensively utilized weedkillers in the United. States, though the business phased out its sales for home use. in 2015.

Bayer has actually prevailed in 14 of the last 20 Roundup trials,. but it likewise acquired

a string of losses in late 2023 and early 2024, leading to. more than $4 billion in decisions.

Some of those verdicts, like McKivison's, were later on. minimized, but the cases ended a nine-trial winning streak for. Bayer and shattered investor and company hopes that the worst of. the Roundup litigation was over.

About 165,000 claims have actually been made in the U.S. versus the. business for accidents supposedly triggered by Roundup, which. Bayer got as part of its $63 billion purchase of U.S. agrochemical business Monsanto in 2018. The majority of plaintiffs, like. McKivison, declare that the item triggered non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

In 2020, Bayer settled most of the then-pending Roundup. cases for up to $9.6 billion but stopped working to get a settlement. covering future cases. More than 50,000 claims remain pending.

(source: Reuters)