Roundup, the famous glyphosate-based herbicide, is among the world’s top weed killers. It became commercially available in 1974 and quickly gained traction due to its high efficacy rate in blocking growth proteins in a variety of plants.
Over the decades, speculations have circulated that Roundup causes major health issues, the most prominent of which is cancer. From third-generation farmers to amateur gardeners at home, Roundup has been a go-to aspect of their plantation efforts.
The Guardian conducted an interview with a Californian man, John Barton, who was a third-generation farmer. Barton had sprayed hundreds of thousands of gallons of Roundup throughout the course of 30 years. He mentioned that there had never really been any regulation (besides the need for hazmat suits) regarding the use of Roundup.
In fact, there was no protection offered during the initial years as Monsanto (Roundup’s producer, later acquired by Bayer) claimed it was perfectly safe. Today, the company is facing thousands of lawsuits, with more pouring in as the months go by.
2016: The Year When It All Began
One major reason why Roundup was considered safe during the initial years was that it inhibits growth proteins in plants through an enzyme pathway not present in humans. Hence, even genetically-modified food crops or GMOs were introduced during the mid-1990s, and Roundup was used in large quantities by farmers across the US and the UK.
It is only in the last two decades that glyphosate’s real face has come to light. Back in 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) considered Roundup weed killer to be “probably carcinogenic.” Around this time, Monsanto was still claiming that Roundup was perfectly safe for humans.
In 2016, Dewayne Lee Johnson filed a Roundup lawsuit against Monsanto, alleging that the product was responsible for his Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis. Dewayne stated that he did not have a family history of cancer and had been using Roundup as a farmer for decades.
Johnson was particularly afraid that he may have exposed his sons to the disease too (who are also farmers). Given his failing condition, Dewayne’s case was the first-ever Roundup lawsuit to proceed to trial, during which a California jury demanded that Monsanto pay $289 million in damages.
Dewayne’s case reached a settlement in August 2018. Just a year later, a Mutation Research report released by multiple universities found that frequent exposure to high amounts of glyphosate increased the risk of developing cancer, endocrine disruption, and genetic alterations. It was around this time that the seventh edition of the ‘March against Monsanto’ took place in full force across the world but primarily in the US and France.
Since then, study after study has only confirmed that Monsanto (now Bayer) significantly downplayed the dangers of Roundup.
Lawsuits and Settlements Over the Years
After Dewayne’s Roundup trial, several plaintiffs filed a Roundup lawsuit over the years. Two high-profile cases in the Federal Court included a plaintiff who claimed they developed cancer after using Roundup for over three decades. The jury initially awarded the plaintiff $2 billion in damages, but the amount was later considered to be excessive and reduced to $86.7 million.
A similar situation occurred with another plaintiff who was awarded $75 million in punitive damages alone but later received only $20 million. To date, Monsanto and Bayer have settled nearly 100,000 Roundup lawsuit cases, with 30,000 still awaiting settlement or trial as of 2022.
Most cases received a positive verdict from the jury and relevant settlement, but Bayer has had its fair share of victories too. For instance – A child was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma allegedly due to Roundup, but the California Court did not find any such link. The verdict fell in favor of the defendant as no substantial cause for the diagnosis could be proved.
The latest update on the Roundup lawsuit (as of May 2023) is that nearly 4000 cases are pending in Federal multi-district litigation in California. New cases are still coming in as lawyers accept claims for negotiations or trials.
Reasons for Fast Claims Settlement
In effect, Roundup lawsuits have received settlements at a fast pace. Initially, Monsanto was willing to make a $45 million class-action settlement for false advertising claims, but this was turned down by the California jury.
The class-action settlement did not account for the personal injury claims of individual plaintiffs. However, the considerably high number of cases made it impracticable to go through each case individually. The interesting fact is that Roundup lawsuits were handled both through class-action settlements and multi-district litigations.
A class-action settlement was used in cases:
- Where two or more plaintiffs shared commonalities
- The defenses and claims of the representative parties were similar to the defenses and claims of the class
- The representatives were vested in protecting the interests of the class
A multi-district litigation was used when:
- Individual circumstances were so vastly different (in the context of the injuries suffered) that a class action was deemed challenging.
- The way people purchased and used Roundup was different and needed individual attention
This played a key role in accelerating settlements for over 100,000 cases through the years.
Importance of Attorney Intervention
In most cases of speedy settlements, attorney intervention played a major role. The best lawyer for a Roundup lawsuit is the one qualified to win cases against well-resourced defendants like Monsanto and Bayer across all 50 US states.
The lawsuit may be filed by any person who was exposed to Roundup for years and was subsequently diagnosed with cancer (especially Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma). However, only a qualified attorney can confirm eligibility on a case-to-case basis.
According to TorHoerman Law, the plaintiff needs to produce evidence in court that they were exposed to Roundup for years, including receipts, bills of purchase, medical and employment records, etc. They are only eligible to file a lawsuit if they meet the statute of limitations, which is a maximum of three years from the day of diagnosis (but may vary among states).
Since the defendant is a multinational corporation with limitless resources, it would not be wise to proceed with a Roundup lawsuit without a qualified attorney.
Final Thoughts
Today, the evidence against Monsanto/Bayer’s initial claims is overwhelming. This evidence is further confirmed by Bayer’s personal statement that it would take down Roundup from the shelves starting in 2023. This is a major leap on the company’s part to avoid further lawsuits.
However, Bayer has also stated that this move is exclusively made to avoid further litigation risks and has nothing to do with the product’s health concerns. As such, it plans to let commercial farmers have access to Roundup’s original formula.
While Bayer implements its five-point plan to reduce future litigation risks, Roundup lawsuits still continue to pile up in the US California Federal Court.
