It is back into the grinder of the legal system for Roundup.
Weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Bayer's appeal to halt thousands of lawsuits claiming the herbicide is responsible for causing cancer, a federal appeals court on July 12 revived a lawsuit by a Georgia man claiming Roundup caused his cancer.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Montgomery, Alabama, rejected Bayer's argument that federal law shielded it from state law claims like the one brought by John Carson, who claims he was diagnosed with a form of cancer known as fibrous histiocytoma in 2016 after using Roundup for 30 years
Carson's attorneys argued there should be a cancer warning on the product label. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said there is not sufficient proof that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is a carcinogen.
According to a report by Reuters, Bayer had hoped that a victory in Carson's case would create a conflict between appeals courts that would make the U.S. Supreme Court more likely to take up the issue, potentially limiting its liability in thousands of lawsuits.
The Supreme Court rejected Bayer's pleas to hear the case on June 21.
Bayer faces more than 30,000 outstanding claims that glyphosate causes cancer. Bayer, which acquired Monsanto and its popular glyphosate-based weedkiller in 2018, set aside $15 billion to settle current and future cases. So far, the company has settled approximately 107,000 cases, with about 30,000 still outstanding.
Claims against Monsanto and now Bayer stem from a 2015 ruling by the World Health Organization that glyphosate is likely carcinogenic, a claim the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rejected.
Bayer announced last year that it would discontinue sales of Roundup in the consumer marketplace by next year, when it will be replaced by products with a different active ingredient. Roundup will remain available in the professional segment.