A year ago, San Francisco jurors awarded $289 million in damages to Dewayne Johnson, a former school groundskeeper who applied Bayer’s Roundup — the world’s most widely used weedkiller — 20 to 30 times per year for work before developing terminal non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. At the time of the trial, Johnson’s body was covered in lesions, and on his worst days, he was unable to speak.
That was only the beginning of Bayer’s legal troubles. Johnson was just one of thousands of plaintiffs who had sued Monsanto, and in the past year we’ve continued to see momentum in these cases. This spring, Edwin Hardeman, a 70-year-old cancer patient from San Francisco who used Roundup for nearly 30 years prior to his lymphoma diagnosis, was awarded $80 million in damages. Now it’s looking like Bayer doesn’t have much fight in them any more, after years of denial and deception.
Facing tens of thousands of lawsuits, Bayer is ready to settle.
Bloomberg reports that Bayer is ready to settle. “Bayer AG is proposing to pay as much as $8 billion to settle more than 18,000 U.S. lawsuits alleging its Roundup herbicide causes cancer, according to people familiar with the negotiations,” the article states.
Despite the World Health Organization’s finding in 2015 that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is likely carcinogenic to humans, Monsanto — the manufacturer of Roundup, which Bayer acquired in 2016 — and now Bayer have repeatedly denied this claim. Here’s a glimpse into their deceitful, shameful tactics: The internal documents included in Johnson’s trial revealed that Monsanto discussed “ghostwriting” scientific papers that asserted the safety of its products.
It seems the company couldn’t find it in themselves to do the right thing on their own. The settlement negotiations are coming on the heels of a big fallout. After three trial losses in California, which resulted in payouts of almost $50 million per cancer victim, Bayer lost more than $30 billion in market value.
As stated in the Bloomberg article, “The negotiations have advanced to the point that Bayer and plaintiffs’ lawyers asked two judges in St. Louis to push back cases set for trial starting soon.”
Don’t wait. Speak to a Memphis Roundup Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma attorney today.
If you used Roundup, now is the time to take action if you want to receive compensation. Do not wait to open a case. Our lawyers are committed to doing everything we can to hold the company accountable and get justice for those who have suffered.
Contact us here or call (901) 327-2100 today to speak with a Memphis Roundup Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma attorney who can help you explore your options.